Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.  For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

One of the keys to breaking the chains of worry, anxiety and fear is to trust the Lord in every area of our lives and with everything in our lives. It is amazing that we can trust Him for our greatest need, salvation, and yet for many of us it is difficult to trust Him in other areas of life. What does it mean to trust in the Lord? Jeremiah connects it with our hope and likens it to a tree planted by the waters. It roots then go down deep and spread out. The tree has a constant and continued source and supply, that is does not fear when the heat comes. A tree that is watered does not need to worry or be anxious in times of drought and it continues bearing fruit.

How do you and I develop such trust that we might be like this tree which Jeremiah speaks of. I would like to share an anonymous anachronym for the word trust that I came across a while back:

T-Take God at His Word. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good” (Num. 23:19)?

R-Rest in His presence. The Hebrew word for rest is nuach, which means “to rest, to be quiet.” Psalm 91:1 informs us, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

U-Understand the outcome does not depend on us. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

S-Accept God is Sovereign. He is in absolute control, has absolute authority and power, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jer. 32:17).

T-Turn to the Past and feed on His faithfulness (Ps. 37:3). His faithfulness in the past has not changed, because He has not changed! Great is His faithfulness (Lam. 3:23)!

Anchor For Today:
Simply trusting every day; Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all.
– Edgar Page