Jeremiah 17:5-9

“5 This is what the Lord says:“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,who depends on flesh for his strength; and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;he will not see prosperity when it comes.He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,whose confidence is in him.

8 He 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.”

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?“

When I read this today, it spoke to me like this:

I’m trying to trust in Man to get me to my goals, as an inventor. I’m looking for my direction and strength in people, in contacts, rather than trusting in God’s overall leading. He’s told me to jump in. That’s all I need to know. I have the green light, the divine go ahead. The timing doesn’t mesh with my preconceived plan, but who cares, right? He Said Go. Now. Why question anything else?

I pray I won’t be like a bush in the wasteland, that I’ll recognize prosperity when it comes.

I want to stubbornly put my trust in the Lord, my full confidence in Him. When the heat comes – when I’m afraid of achieving my goals, of taking a step forward – I will not fear.

Verse 9, “The heart is deceitful…” is significant. I ran across that in BOTH my Bible and a devotional today. (Jennifer Kennedy Dean, He Restores My Soul: A Fourty-Day Journey Toward Personal Renewal) I’m still sussing out what it means. (Yes, I live in the Wild West now.) I THINK it’s about how my heart wants to trust in music, in entertainment, to make me happy. But I now also believe it’s about deceiving myself into thinking I know best. That I should grab the reins and attempt to steer the outcome of my life, rather than trust in God’s bizarre leadings.

We shall see what’s what. Soon…  Praying I learn what abandoned obedience really means.

Kevin