Withstanding the heat of life

This morning I read this passage of Scripture that encouraged me: Jer 17:7,8

But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

It's been a struggle the past month to 'keep my cool', give out enough hugs and kisses, housework blahblahblah....I feel like I let the ball drop 1/4 inch with Stephen and I lose 1/2 mile of progress or sanity. Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough stamina to handle family issues, needs and life....but then I read this verse and I remembered: the deeper my roots are in the stream--the more 'heat' I can withstand and the more fruit I will bear....as I meditated on this verse I thought of a 2nd passage in Galatians: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Then I switched translations in BibleGateway.com and the Message reads like this: "But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely."

So that was my thought process today....from Lord I can't handle it, to God give me a deeper relationship with you--more fruit of the Spirit and less of me 'trying' to do it....