The Tree of Trust: Flourishing in God’s Favor
“YAHWEH said to me:
“Even a strong person is cursed when his confidence rests in his own strength. To place your confidence in the strength of man means that you are turning your heart away from me. That person is like a desert tumbleweed in a dry and dusty desert, in a rocky wilderness without inhabitant. Even when goodness is all around him, he won’t experience it. “I will bless with happiness the one who trusts in me, the one who trusts in me alone. He is like a tree planted on the riverbank, extending its roots into streams of water. It does not fear when scorching heat comes, for its leaves remain fresh and never fading even in a year of drought. It has no anxieties but continues to bear luscious fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8 Passion Translation
When we people ask me how I define union with God, I often say: Trust.
Why? Because this union requires that we trust in the finished work of Jesus. It invites into lifetime of adventure with the Trinity.
Western Religion will take what Jeremiah says about trust and make the assumption that man will be cursed by God when he trusts in himself. That word cursed that we see is Hebrew for áror. This does not mean a magic incantation or evil omen but rather “banned,” “cut off from purpose,” “hemmed in with obstacles.”
This purpose that we find, we find only in union with Abba. Let me be very clear here: This trusting in men does not cut you and I off from God. It only cuts us off from purpose. Those who believe that not trusting in the Father cuts you off from Him still have mindset that we are seaprated from God. However, we did not begin in separation. We were born from above began in union with Him.
Jeremiah said regarding those who refuse to trust in their union with Abba, “even when your goodness is all around him, he will not experience it” (Jer. 17:6).
In our refusal to trust in the goodness of God, He does not separate Himself from us. However, it will prevent us from from partaking in His goodness that is evident to us. We cannot escape His goodness for it is constantly pursuing us, but we can be blind to it. Religion will blind us to what is really going on in our lives through self-effort. But if we relinquish control by way of surrender to union, we will begin to see the luscious fruit that Jeremiah speaks of.
By not trusting in thr Father, we subject ourselves to a life performance, which causes all sorts of obstacles.
“Can you see how stupid it would be to start in the Spirit and then for some crazy reason to switch modes back to DIY again. As if your own works could add anything to what God has done in Christ.” Galatians 3:3 MSB
Much like what Paul is saying here, if trusting in God required your own works, it wouldn’t be trust at all. Trust only requires us to drink deep from our union with God and trust in His everlasting goodness.
“Blessed is the man who trust in Yahweh and Yahweh becomes his trust.”
If we want Yahweh to become our trust, we are going to let go of control and rest in our union with God. It isn’t about what we are receiving in return. It’s about growing in union and seeing His goodness through it all. Simply put, to not trust in Yahweh is to not be persuaded by truth. And Jesus is truth embodied.
As we trust, we are to be “a flourishing tree planted by God’s design, deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss, bearing fruit in every season of life. He is never dry, never fainting, ever blessed, ever prosperous…” Psalm 1:2-3 TPT
Trees have no choice but to trust in one who created them. So we ourselves ought to trust in the Father like flourishing trees. As we do so, we become flourishing trees rooted in union with Abba, bearing luscious fruit!
