Our reading in Jeremiah 37-39 is a place of sadness where we see that the people of Israel were reaping the result of unfaithfulness to God. Oh what a difference there is between those who are faithful to God and those who are not. We do see it in our reading for today, Jeremiah 37-39 in the Daily Walk Bible. There were two who listened and trusted in God and a whole nation and a king who did not. The result for those who listened and trusted God was deliverance, relief, and protection in and through the trial. For those who were unfaithful there was desolation, devastation and destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.

Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian trusted in the Lord and they discovered that God’s words are true: “Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Mark it well, dear friend: it pays to trust in the Lord. These two men are proof of it. Even though there was turbulence and adversity on every side, Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech were like two trees planted along the riverbank with roots in God that held them strong in the storm. This is a great secret in life. You can trust God in the trial. Even though you may not see His Presence, He sees you and knows you by name. And He will hold you strong no matter what you are facing in life. Look at Jeremiah. He was thrown into the cistern and sank into a thick layer of mud. How much worse could it get for Jeremiah? Relief from God came from an unexpected source. There was another man who trusted in the Lord - an Ethiopian palace official named Abed-Melech. God moved him to boldly go to the king and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern. God rewarded that Ethiopian for his trust in the Lord - He gave Ebed-Melech his life, rescued him and kept him safe (Jeremiah 39:18).

God also says this: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land” (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Zedekiah was one whose heart turned away from the LORD and we see the result. He lost his sight and his sons and was bound in chains and taken into captivity. Things could have gone better for him if he would have listened to the Word of the Lord. What was the Word of the Lord to him? “If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down. But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground” (Jeremiah 38:17-18). Just think, Zedekiah’s choice of trust affected his entire nation. This is an important lesson for us. We must realize that our trust in the Lord never occurs in a vacuum. It affects others. The Ethiopian’s trust in the Lord saved the life of Jeremiah. Zedekiah’s refusal to trust in the Lord resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem.

And so, let us trust in the Lord today. What will that mean? I like to think of trust as Total Reliance Under Stress and Trial. Rely on the Lord. Act on what you know to be true about Him whether you feel it or not. Trust in what He says, not what you feel. Then, you will discover His words are true in Jeremiah 17:7-8. You will not be anxious in a year of drought not cease to bear fruit. What a promise that is for us today!