Daily devotional · November 18
Roots by the Water
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.”
Jeremiah paints a picture of a tree planted beside a stream. When heat comes, it does not panic, because its roots reach water. When a dry year arrives, it keeps producing fruit. The person who trusts in the Lord is compared to this tree. The message is that what sustains us is hidden from view, and it is unaffected by the weather around us. We cannot always control the heat of a hard season, but we can control where our roots go. Roots grow slowly and in silence, through daily habits: a few minutes of prayer, a passage read, a truth remembered. Today, choose one small daily habit that sends your roots deeper, such as reading a Psalm each morning or praying before bed, and commit to it for the next week. Ask God to be the water that keeps you steady when life turns dry.
Prayer
Lord, plant my roots deep in You. Keep me fruitful even in dry seasons. Amen.