Lent – Day 17

Looking for Water and Roots

“For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13

You stuck your foot in your mouth — again — and you can’t rest as your mind rolls endlessly through the ways the conversation should have gone.

You study your bank account history to try to match up where your money went this month and wonder what you can cut out of your spending in order to pay those unexpected bills.

You feel lonely and constantly scroll on your phone to see if anyone commented on your most recent social media post — and to see if friends are hanging out without you.

When the stress of life bears down on you, where do you turn? Does your solution make everything better, or is it only a temporary fix for a deeper issue?

While I might figure out how to cope with any of these examples from my own life in the moment, there’s always something else — another problem or obstacle — waiting to keep me awake. How can I rest when I’m so easily shaken by the next thing?

We all wander, looking for answers to whatever challenges we encounter. It can feel like an endless journey, as our temporary solutions never fully fix our problems.

God identifies our problem in Jeremiah 2:13; His people have turned their backs on Him, the true source of life.

Not only that, but God says His children have a second problem. We look for what we need for life — water — in places that regularly run dry. But Jeremiah 2:13 also gives us the solution: God Himself is “the fountain of living waters.” While a tank for storing water may become empty, a fountain has its own source and continuously flows with fresh water.

A few chapters later, Jeremiah tells us what happens when you go to this fountain as your source of life:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Isn’t that what we all want? Instead of wandering, we want to be rooted. Instead of anxious* and fearful, we long to be calm and unafraid.

When your trust is in the Lord, you find your roots in Him. Christ satisfies your deepest longings. When you are rooted in Him, you can rest secure because the living water He offers will never run dry.

Pray and Respond

Set aside some time to spend in silence and in prayer, asking God to reveal to you where you are wandering, looking for stability and meaning from things that will never fully satisfy.

How are you craving “rootedness,” and what would it look like to bring that need to Jesus and find your roots in Him? Take some time to explore what Scripture has to say about Christ’s character and how He can help you rest from your particular wandering.