Jeremiah 17:7-8(NIV)
“7 But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
I absolutely love this passage. It holds jewels of truth that cut right down to the meat of how we should view challenges of any kind. When I was younger in the Word and read this passage in Jeremiah 17:7-8, I’d visualize a person that has this kind of fully persuaded faith. How does a person develop fearless confidence in the Lord, so much so that they are always hopeful and never fail to bear fruit? This seems like a dynamic and brave individual. I wanted to be this ‘Jeremiah 17’ kind of woman. I wanted to know how to become a person that doesn’t worry excessively and has a rock-solid faith.
I’m sure there isn’t a person living that hasn’t made choices they regret or wish they could change. Some of us walk away from relationships so ravaged by heartbreak that we lose confidence in ourselves. More tragically, many of us lose confidence that God will keep us from making these huge errors in judgments. The reality is that God will keep us IF we want to be kept. Sadly, many of us choose not to be kept by God, but take matters into our own hands.
We need to remember the pattern that God set from the very beginning, when He instructed Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. In Genesis 2:16-17(NLT), He warned Adam, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Did Adam and Eve obey God’s Word? Ultimately, they made the decision to go against God’s sovereignty, and they chose not to obey His truth. They took matters into their own hands and this was a catastrophic choice.
Did God know the terrible consequences that would land on humanity if Adam and Eve disobeyed Him? Of course, He did. God knows everything. Did God prevent Eve from being bamboozled by the devil? No. God allowed it. Did God step in and slap that ol’ apple out of Eve’s hand so that she would not make this horrible mistake? No. God has given us free-will choice, and He will never withdraw, violate, or overstep the gifts He has given us. From the very beginning, God establishes this precedent. He allows us to make the choices we choose to make. If we choose to disobey His Word, Will, and guidance, He will allow us to do so.
Are these mistakes preventable? Absolutely! In the beginning, God also establishes that the way to avoid costly mistakes is to obey His Word and to walk with Him daily. This means that we don’t leap into relationships with men that are not sent by God to be our husbands. So, the way to avoid costly relationship upsets is to preserve ourselves and only move as the Lord leads.
Many of us can’t imagine doing this. We think, “Well, what if I don’t hear from God about the man, should I just keep on waiting? Surely, the man will lose interest and will not stick around if I’m not intimate with him.” It is a trick of satan to think that our flesh can be the glue for a relationship. Our bodies were created to be the temples of God. They are not the glue, our commitment to God is the only glue strong enough to keep a relationship going. It’s putting Christ before any other thing or person in our lives. HE is Lord, not the boyfriend.
Let’s go back to the record of Adam and Eve. The devil convinced them they’d miss a big blessing if they listened to God. They should have known that God is the Source of ALL blessings, and He is the Rewarder of them. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 6:33 that we must seek God first in all we do. This means we must follow God’s instructions and do as He says, because this is the only way to preserve our hearts and receive the blessings that He wants to give us.
As His sons and daughters, God already sees us as the person in Jeremiah 17:7-8. This is why He expects us to abide by what He says. When we don’t abide by God’s Word, and we take matters into our own hands, there’s a cost for this and we won’t like it. But the amazing part is that through Jesus Christ, God has made a way for us to always get back on track. When we get hurt by the person we thought would stick around for the long haul, we should never spend too much time sulking in misery about it, because more than likely this wasn’t the person God sent.
We shouldn’t ever place all our hopes on a human being, because human beings will fail us. Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives. God commands us to anchor our hope in him, because Christ will never fail us.
James 1:2-4(NLT) says, “2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” God’s Will is that our faith and endurance is fully developed in Christ, so that we grow in God’s love continually. It’s not about a broken relationship with a man. It’s about our faith in God through Jesus Christ, and not letting anything keep us from producing fruit for God’s Kingdom.
Only what we do for God matters in life. And if we haven’t learned this lesson, life will teach it to us. Life will test our faith. It will test whether our true allegiance is to the man or to the Father. It’s up to us to prove the perfect Will of God in our lives by remaining committed to do what God commands. No matter what comes our way, we must never lose confidence in Heavenly Father. We must recognize that He will reward us when we allow Him to help us grow and develop into the ‘Jeremiah 17’ women He has destined us to be.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Fully Developed in the Lord”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.