Trusting in God

I have two branches from the same type of tree in my hand. Can anyone tell me the differences between these two branches? That’s right. This one is dry and brittle. It’s all shriveled up and dying. This one (hold up the flourishing one) is alive; it has green leaves; it’s flexible; it has beautiful flowers on it. Flowers are really important on some trees. Do you know why? Before a tree grows fruit, it has to grow flowers. Once the flowers grow, the fruit will grow after it.

In the book of Jeremiah in the Bible, God compares people to these two branches. He says that the person who only trusts other people to help him and give him support is like this branch. He will be all dry and brittle. He will not see the good things in his life. He will always want more and more and always worried about everything.

But, the person who trusts in God, who believes God will help him, will be like this branch. He will receive many blessings from God. He will not be worried or afraid of anything because he knows that he can trust God and God will take care of him no matter what happens.

So, we have a choice to make. We can turn away from God and be like this dried up branch and be really brittle and weak (snap the branch), or we can trust that God will give us everything we need to be like this healthy green branch. We will grow and be strong and know that God is with us and helping as we go through life. Which one do you want to choose? Turning away from God (hold up dry branch), or trusting in God (hold up flowering branch).

Oh yeah, there is one more thing. We may be able to fool other people, but we can’t fool God. He knows when we are pretending. Think about a Halloween mask. At Halloween you dress up and pretend to be someone else. But, your parents still know who you are under the mask. The Bible says God searches our hearts and minds. We can put on our Halloween mask and pretend we trust Him. But if inside, under the mask, we really don’t trust Him, He’ll know it. God says He will treat us the way we are under the mask, not as we pretend to be on the outside.

So, this week, I want you to remember to trust in God from the inside out with no pretending. Let’s pray together…Dear God, we love you so much and we are glad that when we trust in you from the inside out, you will help up grow strong like a healthy tree with lots of leaves and beautiful flowers that turn into fruit.