From where do you draw your strength? Are we one of those people who need to do it ourselves, that have a hard time asking for help? I know I have had those moments in my life, not that I thought I could do it myself, but more that I did not want to be a burden on anyone else. Even simply moving something around the house, if it is larger or heavy, it helps to have someone help you. Yet, the first step is the hardest, admitting we need the help.

We can sometimes fail to see our need for the LORD, but if we do not open ourselves up to His grace and His strength, we will have a hard time following His will for our lives. It is too easy to say “I can’t!” and we tend to want to say it before we even try. If it truly is the Lord’s will for us, we will be able to do it with His help. Sometimes we think that our will is God’s will, in those cases it does not al-ways work out well.

In the reading from Jeremiah today, we can see that we need to be the tree planted by the stream that is Jesus Christ. Close enough that our roots can draw strength from him in the driest of conditions. That barren bush is like us when we say “I can do it myself!” We do not place ourselves near the stream but in the desert. I find it interesting that if a desert area gets some rain, it often runs off, as the ground is not open to receiving the very thing that it needs. How often does God’s grace and mercy run off of us, because we are not open to receiving it? It is an interesting thought.

The beautiful thing is that, unlike the Bush in the desert, we can move ourselves if we are dry or have kept ourselves away from the Lord. All we need to do is to open ourselves up to Him and He will be there for us. We always have a chance to change our lives, that is, up until the end of our lives. But why wait? Our lives will be much more fulfilling and enjoyable if we walk with the Lord.

Blessings.

(Spring is coming, Spring is coming…)

Fr Backer