Trust

"In God we trust" has been a motto of the United States, by law, since 1956, and has been printed on all coins and currency since 1955. (Isn't it ironic that this motto appears on our money?)

Trust is "a reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc. of a person or thing" according to the dictionary. I think that if we really did trust in God, we'd rely less on the money.

Adam and Eve had a problem with trust. They didn't fully believe that God had given them everything they needed, or they wouldn't have believed the Serpent's argument that God was holding out on them. Their lack of trust was the root of their sin. Humanity ever since has lacked that same trust. Even though we seem hard-wired to want to believe in something greater than ourselves, when it comes to daily life we try to work things out by ourselves instead. Another way of saying that is that we don't really trust God to come through for us. And just about every sin you can name traces its way back to not trusting God to provide what's best for us.

I know some people who claim to trust God, but they seem to spend their time trying to manipulate him -- reciting verses from the Bible, claiming various promises, and figuring that their works somehow obligate God to come through with the new car or the job or whatever. As though God were a slot machine or a vending machine -- put enough coins in and something is bound to come out. But God is much wiser than we are, and he will give us what we really need, not what we think is best for us.

Isaiah 28:16 says this: "Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken." That foundation stone is Christ himself -- for salvation, and for the faith to live every day (Gal. 2:20). God tells us to trust him, to build our lives on Jesus (see Matthew 7:24-27) and not on our own efforts.

It's easy to say you trust God. But your daily schedule and your bank book show what you really trust. Looking at mine, I know that I sure need to trust him more. I pray you're learning to rely totally on God, for everything.