Welcome,
Friend,
To the gift of sacred rest,
The Lenten season.
I'm Tonya Murphy of Rest in His Presence,
And this week we will focus on the rest of trust.
I'm so glad that you've returned to this space,
Or that you found it for the first time.
Wherever you are right now,
Let your body settle.
Adjust if you need to.
Let your jaw soften,
Your shoulders drop,
Your hands rest open.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and release it through your mouth.
One more.
Now let this breath be a small act of trust,
Trusting that the next breath will come.
It always has.
And today,
We're going to explore what it means to extend that trust to everything else.
Our scripture today comes from the prophet Jeremiah.
Listen for what resonates in you.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
Whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the string.
It does not fear when heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17,
Verse 7 and 8.
Sit with that image for a moment.
A tree planted by water.
Think about what makes that image so striking.
A tree by water doesn't worry about drought.
It doesn't frantically search for nourishment.
It doesn't grip the soil out of fear.
It simply sends its roots deep toward the source.
And everything it needs comes from there.
Trust is rest for the soul.
When we truly trust God,
We stop bracing for impact.
We stop scanning the horizon for the next threat.
We stop trying to control the outcomes we're afraid of.
But if we're honest,
Most of us carry a kind of low-grade vigilance,
A habit of bracing.
We may not call it fear,
But it shows up as control.
Over our schedules,
Our relationships,
Our carefully managed outcomes.
We work hard to make things go right,
Because somewhere inside of us,
We're not quite sure they will.
This season invites us to notice that.
To ask,
Where has fear disguised itself as control in my life?
Because here's what the scripture is offering.
When your roots go deep into trust,
The droughts don't destroy you.
The heat comes,
And it will come.
But your leaves stay green.
You continue to bear fruit.
Not because circumstances are easy,
But because your source is secure.
Trust doesn't mean nothing hard will happen.
Trust means you have somewhere to put your roots when it does.
Let's return to the scripture.
This time,
Receive it as a picture of who you are becoming.
Not who you have to be yet,
But who you are being formed to be.
They will be like a tree planted by the water.
It does not fear when heat comes.
Now rest here as long as you need to.
Now let your breath slow.
Breathe in,
And breathe out.
I want to invite you to bring to mind an area of your life where you've been bracing.
Where you've been holding on tightly.
Out of fear,
Out of uncertainty.
Out of the need to make something go a certain way.
Don't force it.
Just notice what surfaces.
Now,
With your next exhale,
Imagine releasing the grip,
Just slightly.
Not abandoning it.
Not pretending it doesn't matter.
But losing the hold enough to let God in.
As you breathe,
Let these words become your rhythm.
As you inhale,
I trust you,
Lord.
And as you exhale,
I am held.
Breathe with these words as long as you need.
There is no striving here.
Only receiving.
Only the slow,
Quiet work of letting your roots go deeper.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
Whose confidence is in Him.
As we begin to close,
Hold this question gently,
Not urgently.
Where is God inviting you to trust Him more deeply?
Not where you think you should trust more.
But where He is specifically,
Quietly inviting you.
You may already know.
It may have surfaced during our time together.
Let's let that be enough for today.
One honest answer.
One open hand.
Now take a final,
Full breath in.
And as you release it,
Let it carry any remaining tension out with it.
You are a tree being planted by living water.
Your roots are going deeper than you can see.
The work happening underground is real,
Even when it's invisible.
You don't have to figure out the whole drought.
You just have to trust the source.
He is faithful.
He has always been faithful.
And He is with you now.
Go gently,
Friend.
May goodness and mercy follow you.
