“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD… He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes… and it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV)

A few months ago, I bought a banana tree.

In my mind, I was already giving bananas to the neighbors and baking enough banana bread to supply the entire Ashland county. Instead, I somehow managed to take the poor thing to the brink of death.

The whole “Why are you dying?” mystery was driving me completely bananas, so I snapped a picture of its crispy leaves and headed back to the nursery.

“How often are you watering it?” the employee asked.

I proudly explained my schedule.

She smiled.

“It’s a rainforest plant,” she said. “There is no schedule with this one, only water. You can’t overwater it.”

I laughed. “That’s funny. Every plant I’ve ever owned has spent its life warning me about overwatering.”

She lifted an imaginary cup to her lips, tilted her head back, and drenched herself, I guess. 

“Deep drinking.” She waves at me. 

And I left. 

Somewhere, though, between the nursery and my driveway, I couldn’t shake the thought that maybe our souls are a little like my banana tree. We aren’t always rebellious or faithless. Sometimes we’re simply trying to survive on occasional sips when we were created for a soak.

A silent dehydration of the soul

We squeeze in a hurried prayer before work, a few verses between appointments, or a worship song while folding laundry. Then we wonder why joy feels distant, patience runs thin, and peace seems to run away. Like, run! 

Maybe we’ve mistaken an occasional spiritual sprinkle for the kind of daily communion our souls were created to enjoy.

David understood that feeling. In the middle of his own drought he prayed,

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  (Psalm 63:1). 

David wasn’t describing someone who didn’t know God. He had witnessed miracles, written songs of worship, and walked with the Lord for years. He was describing the ache of longing to be refreshed again. To be carried to the water. 

I understand that.

Sometimes it shows up in chapped lips and an ache I can’t quite explain. Sometimes it looks like praying for family, carrying burdens that feel too heavy, walking through another season of uncertainty, or simply wondering why my soul feels just so tired.

Then Jeremiah reminds me to look beneath the surface.

The tree doesn’t wait until the drought to grow roots. It sends them toward the river long before the heat ever arrives.

The tree changes everything

Every prayer, every morning in God’s Word, every quiet act of surrender, and every conversation with Jesus sends another root a little deeper toward the River.

Healthy fruit doesn’t grow from frantic branches or panic attacks, I’m here to testify to this truth. 

It grows from deep roots.

My little banana tree wasn’t designed for occasional rain. It was created to grow where water is always available. 

In fact, Jeremiah doesn’t say the blessed tree is planted where it rains the most. He says it is planted by the water, close enough to the source that even when the sun strikes, it continues to draw life.

Rain comes and goes.

The River keeps flowing.

The Bible begins in a garden with a river. Jeremiah pictures a tree beside a stream. Jesus stands and offers Living Water. Revelation ends with the River of the Water of Life flowing from the throne of God. The sanctuary. From beginning to end, Scripture keeps leading thirsty people to the same place.

Jesus never said, “If anyone has it all together…”

He simply said,

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37). 

I love that.

He doesn’t shame our thirst – He satisfies it

So maybe today’s invitation isn’t to try harder. Maybe it’s simply to plant yourself a little closer to the River.

Open your Bible.

Pull up a chair in prayer.

Linger a little longer in His presence.

Send your roots deeper into the only Source that never runs dry. Throw your head way back with a real drink of God’s goodness. 

Because the promise was never that life would be free from heat.

God promises that those who trust in the Lord would be planted by the stream.

And trees that stay planted don’t spend their lives chasing tiny drops of rain. But they quietly bear fruit because they’ve learned to live where the River runs. 

Friends, I’d love to hear about your thirst quenchers. Where are your ties planted these days? I will also be praying for each of you!

Take us to the River, Lord. Amen. 🌀🌀