Have you ever seen a mangrove tree, or better yet, a group of them? I hadn’t (or don’t remember) until we went to visit the environment they grow in, lowlands by water.

Two things to notice here—lowlands and water: First, it’s the lowlands that enable them to exist and grow at all. Hiking a short trail in that area, a sign informed us that an elevation of just one foot above sea-level would negate their ability to grow, and we discovered that, as we saw mangroves replaced by hammock trees.

Second, without putting their roots right in to the water, mangroves won’t survive, let alone grow or propagate.

Both of these characteristics of mangrove trees provide a wonderful illustration for Jer. 17:7-8–

“Blessed is the [person] who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. [They are] 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 years of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

With this in mind, let’s consider the two points we noticed above:

1. The lowlands—sometimes, (though not always) our greatest realization of God’s love comes when we’re in the “lowlands” of life. Those times and seasons that we’re either “down” or bored with the lack of anything exciting going on. It’s during those times, with no highlights or exciting distractions, that we seek the Lord, Who has promised to be “found by [us]” when we seek Him (Jer. 29:13).

He also speaks to us in times of testing, grief, and sadness—pouring in His encouragement, strength, comfort, and joy in such a way that we know they’re all coming from Him, since our circumstances or natural feelings don’t produce them.

In either case, through His presence, grace, teaching, and enabling, we grow.

2. Water—What we all need to survive. But sometimes it’s not easy to get to. For example, those who live in arid climates have to search for sources of water. And in lesser-developed areas of the world, people have to walk some distance to get it and carry it home. For these folks, it takes effort, initiative, and strength of will and body to obtain life-giving water.

Likewise, mangrove trees have to extend their roots far to reach their life-giving water in the streams and sea they abide next to. Seeing these long, often winding, tangled, roots made me think, “If these mangroves could talk, they’d tell me ‘Wow, I sure had to extend myself and stretch past my natural comfort zone to get my roots into this water!’”

And so it is with us. All that effort, motivation, energy, and stretching ourselves to reach His “living water” pays off in growth, fruitfulness, and peace in troubled times. Those with shallow and complacent hearts and spirits will find themselves drying up, fruitless, and anxious over every hint of trouble.

But those of us who learn from the mangrove trees will never stop growing, deepening our relationship with the Lord, and producing His fruit of the Spirit. And, like mangroves by the water in the lowlands, others will witness our extended roots in Him.

“Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” Ps. 1:1-3

Imagine a life with:

• No fear of “heat” or “drought”—meaning not anxious about news of current or impending economic disaster, social ills, recession, etc. Also, not “borrowing trouble from tomorrow”. And when trouble (“heat”) does come, being able to deal with today’s trouble without stressing over it. We wouldn’t fear, panic, worry, or get stressed because we trust the Lord to provide strength for our bodies, peace for our hearts, wisdom for our souls/minds, and whatever we need to live. We would, as it were, remain “green”—fresh and whole.
• Endless productivity (“does not cease to bear fruit”) – due to a constant, reliable, eternal source of fruitfulness in every godly endeavor He calls us to—creativity, successful outcomes, usefulness, significance, blessing others wherever and whatever we produce. Because it all comes from Him, through the Holy Spirit living and leading in us.
• Never “withering” – Never feeling like we’re outliving our reasons to live. Continuing to stay emotionally, spiritually, and relationally healthy and whole, even when we “decay” bodily due to aging. As promised in Scripture—

“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” 2 Cor. 4:16

• Always doing what we need to, at the appropriate time, place, and manner – “yields its fruit in season”. We can do good and even great things, but if no one’s ready to receive them, it’s frustrating. Or if those who really need it don’t know or care, it’s equally frustrating and discouraging. Or if we don’t do them the right way so no one recognizes their need or benefits from them, it’s our responsibility to “get it right”. The Lord’s wisdom and character in us enables us to yield fruit “in season”.
• Whatever we do “prospers”— Both a summary and conclusion of all of the above– Wonderful, abundant, results. Everything working according to plan, the way it’s supposed to. No lack. No failure. No “if only it had turned out differently.” Blessings to ourselves and others in overflowing supply.

The great news is, we don’t have to just imagine all of the above—we can be, have, and do all of this simply by stretching our roots deep and far enough to be firmly planted in our Source of true life.

Note, “simple” doesn’t mean “easy”. It means it’s not difficult to understand, but also not easy to do! As mentioned earlier, it takes stretching, extending, and effort. But oh, when our roots enter and remain in that Living Water—what a secure, joyful, peaceful, productive, loving, life that will be! It’s what we can learn from the mangrove tree.