What a scary and traumatic situation! The young girl was having winter fun with a few friends. She walked out onto the ice covering a huge lake.
It should be solid, she thought; after all, she’d grown up in Alaska and lived near the lake. Her judgment that day had lapsed.
The young girl found herself falling through a hole in the ice. She screamed and cried. The water was too cold for her to swim or stay afloat. The girl knew she was going to die.
She called out to Jesus as she slowly sank to the muddy lake bottom. She looked up, saw the hole, but knew she couldn’t reach it. She closed her eyes and covered her face.
In the next moment she heard someone calling her name. A friend was lowering a sled down to her through the hole in the ice. Her friend pulled her up to safety.
This story can remind us that Jesus can find a way for us when we call out to Him on His terms. The prophet Jeremiah gives us some words of comfort and guidance as we go between our births and our deaths.
Jeremiah 17:7 tells us, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose trust IS the Lord” (writer’s emphasis). Does this sound a bit redundant?
Well, as we read Jer. 17:8- 10, the answer we seek is right there. It isn’t a repeat of what the prophet had just written. When you are standing on solid ground, you are like a tree growing by water.
Notice the description. How does the tree become strong and stay healthy? The tree trusts that the life-sustaining water will always be there. Therefore, the tree trusts the water under the heat and in time of drought.
So, this is our analogy: “Blessed is the man who trusts IN the Lord, And whose trust IS the Lord.” He’ll be there taking care of you like the water taking care of the tree. He can be trusted to always be there. Stand on solid ground.
Jesus also gives us a promise in Matthew 7:24-27. When we are standing on the solid ground of Jesus Christ, our lives are no longer in our own hands, but in Jesus’ caring and secure hands.
Please, begin now, today, standing on the solid ground of Jesus. He is willing and able to help us throughout all the circumstances of our lives.