Deepening Our Roots: Practicing the "Slow Verbs"

We are nearly two months into the new year, and I feel as though I am already chasing time. Do you feel that way too? I had planned to start 2025 off with posts that encourage reflection and preparation. So, I am late off the mark, but the Lord is encouraging me to focus on prayer and patience.

These two words, prayer and patience—activities, postures, maybe mindsets—evoke in me something like a slow purposefulness or maybe an attentive watchfulness. Slow is not easy for me, is it for you? I have always struggled to take my time, to slow down. But in these days that seem to fly by, I keep hearing the “slow verbs” of the psalmists: meditate, settle, dwell, cultivate, listen.

So, in this my first post of 2025, I purposefully introduce you to an amazing tree that thrives in the harsh climate of the African desert—the Boscia albatrunca, the Shepherd’s Tree-it’s lifespan can exceed one hundred years.

The Blessing: The Shepherd’s Tree

The Shepherd’s Tree (Boscia albatrunca) is native to southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert and grows to a height of twenty-two feet. It usually takes five to ten years to reach it’s full height. When I first heard about this remarkable tree, I was especially interested in the fact that its roots reach a depth of 230 feet (deeper than any tree on record). This passage in Jeremiah kept going through my mind as I conducted my cursory research.

 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 17:6-7).

You see, the Shepherd’s Tree is an evergreen tree that flourishes against all odds and produces nutritious foliage that in turn supports all kinds of living creatures. It also provides shade—a refuge of sorts—from the desert’s heat. It is planted not by water but above it with a root system designed by God to tap underground sources of water deep beneath the surface of the ground.

In a similar way, God blesses, even nourishes us in the face of trying, and at times, hopeless circumstances. Remarkably, this passage suggests that when we trust God and our trust is God, we actually grow—our roots are sustained and strengthened and, against all odds, we bear fruit. This runs counter to our cultural narrative.

The Curse: A Lifeless Shrub

The blessing is preceded by a curse brought to life (so to speak) by the metaphor of a lifeless shrub…

Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,
    whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land (Jeremiah 17:5–6)

Clearly, Jeremiah’s shrub in the desert pictures for us a good for nothing lifelessness, a scraggly bush barely existing in a parched and uninhabited wasteland. By all accounts, this is characteristic of those who trust in themselves or in the prowess of another. Ultimately, this is what turns our hearts away from the Lord. The cultural narrative out there tempts us to look for strength and security in money or power rather than in God.

The Lord’s blessing stands in stark contrast to the curse. The one who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord, is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream. This hearty tree not only endures the harshest of conditions but amazingly does not cease to bear fruit.

Our Trust IS the Lord: A Simple Confession of Faith

In these days that seem to fly by, we need to be reminded that God is the source of our stability and growth, God is the one who causes growth and deepens our roots. So, in the next few posts I hope to share my journey with you—maybe together we can redeem the time that seems to be flying by.

I close with this description of faith which is an expression of trust from the book of Hebrews.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb 11:6).

Our trust in the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7) begins with a simple confession:  I believe that God exists. Sometimes that is all we can say, but all of the time it is all that God requires.

I believe that God exists…a good place to begin…