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

(Trusting God is not

          a sweet sentiment,

but in Whom I stake my life.

Trusting God

    transcends all circumstances.

God empowers us to respond,

not to be handicapped by fear.

God bears fruit

     even amidst the impossible.)

O LORD,

You are our joy

            and our strength.

You are our Shepherd.

    We lack nothing at all.

You have set us

     in the most unlikely places

  to bring You glory.

Please help us

           to live that way,

trusting You

    even in what appears

    as a dry and barren place.

Help us to see it differently

   and live differently in it,

   because we know You.

We are rooted and grounded

not in favorable circumstances,

   but Your unchangeable love.

Help us to realize

that the opposite of fear

     is not the absence of the scary,

but trust in You.