Do you know the
national motto of the United States? It is found on each coin of the realm:“In
God we trust.” While the exact wording of this motto is not found in the Bible,
many verses closely approximate it.
Past:
“God … they put their trust in Him” (1 Chron. 5:20).
Past and
present:“In God I have put my trust” (Psa. 56:4,11; 73:28).
Present:
“We trust in … God” (2 Ki. 18:22; Isa. 36:7; 2 Cor. 1:9; 1 Tim. 4:10). “God,
in Thee do I put my trust” (Psa. 7:1; 16:1; 25:2; 141:8). “God, Thou art my
trust” (Psa. 71:5).
Present and
future:“God … in Him will I trust” (2 Sam. 22:3; Psa. 18:2; 91:2). “God
… I will trust in Thee” (Psa. 55:23).
Imperative:
“Trust in … God” (1 Tim. 6:17).
The Hebrew and
Greek words for “trust” in these passages convey the thoughts of fleeing for
protection, having confidence, being safe, secure, and assured. These are words
that denote activity—such as fleeing to God for safety—more than
passively waiting for God to do something.
As believers in
Christ, we “have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb.
6:18). But the question each believer ought to ask him/herself often is this:
“In whom did I trust yesterday, in whom am I trusting today, and
in whom will I trust every moment of every day of the rest of my life?”
Competitors
for Our Trust
It is well to
be aware of the many competitors for our trust that rise up each day. The Bible
tells us about some of these:
Human
weapons and defenses. “He shall besiege you in all your gates, until your
high and fenced walls come down, wherein you trusted” (Deut. 28:52).
“The children
of Benjamin … were smitten … because they trusted unto the liers in wait”
(Judg. 20:36).
“Some trust in
chariots, and some in horses:but we will remember the name of the LORD our God”
(Psa. 20:7).
“For I will not
trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But Thou hast saved us from
our enemies” (Psa. 44:6,7; also Matt. 26:52).
What is the
first thing we think of when we notice the first symptoms of a cold, get a
headache, have insomnia, or fall and injure ourselves? Is it vitamin C,
aspirin, a sleeping pill, a bandage, a doctor? Or do we immediately flee to,
trust in, and call upon the Lord to help us, heal us, and/or give us wisdom as
to what kind of medical help to seek?
Idols.
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands…. Those who make
them are like unto them; so is every one who trusts in them. O Israel, trust in
the LORD” (Psa. 115:4-10).
“They shall be
greatly ashamed that trust in graven images” (Isa. 42:17).
As Christians,
we do not bow down to idols of wood, stone, or precious metals. But we may put
our trust in other kinds of idols to help us forget the pain of a broken
relationship, a difficult boss, failing grades at school, and the like. These
idols may include alcohol, narcotics, pornography, novels, television, movies,
and many other kinds of amusement. These are all designed to help us forget our
problems, whereas God wants us to cast our burdens upon Himself (Psa. 55:22; 1
Pet. 5:7) and find out how He wants us to deal with our problems and
what He wants us to learn from them. “No chastening for the present
seems to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby”
(Heb. 12:11; also Rom. 8:28).
Falsehood.
“This is your lot … saith the LORD, because you have forgotten Me and trusted
in falsehood” (Jer. 13:25).
If someone is
hurt by an offensive or demeaning comment, do you lie and say, “I was just kidding”?
If you are caught in a sin, do you deny it or blame it on someone else? The
Lord has provided a place of refuge for sinners—repentant sinners, that is.
When we sin, let us humble ourselves, accept the truth about ourselves, confess
our sin, receive a fresh application of God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John
1:9), and be reconciled to the person(s) we have sinned against (Matt. 5:24).
Wealth,
riches. “Lo, this is the man who made not God his strength, but trusted in
the abundance of his riches” (Psa. 52:7; Job 31:24-28).
“Those who
trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by any means redeem his brother” (Psa. 49:6,7).
“Charge those
who are rich in this world, that they [not] trust in uncertain riches, but in
the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).
Do you try to
use your riches (or your imaginary riches made available through your credit
cards) to purchase happiness, to make other people like and respect you, or to
influence people (even other brothers and sisters in the assembly) to do what
you want them to do? Or do you have the spiritual maturity to realize (a) that
true happiness and peace are found only in trusting the Lord (Isa. 26:3,4; Psa.
16:11); (b) that only by trusting and pleasing the Lord will we gain the love
and respect of our fellow believers, and often even that of our enemies; and
(c) if we are trusting the Lord, we will want others to trust the Lord as well
so that they might learn to do His will and not what we want them
to do.
Friends,
fellow-men, princes, guides. “Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted,… has lifted up his heel against me” (Psa. 41:9; Prov. 25:19).
“It is better
to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in princes” (Psa. 118:8,9).
“Trust not in a
friend, put not confidence in a guide” (Mic. 7:5).
Sister A
trusted the Lord for her salvation but she was a fearful, anxious woman. Her
husband had left her and she depended upon her unbelieving and abusive son who
lived with her to take her places and to protect her from a host of imaginary
foes. The Lord took her son away in death at the age of 29 and Sister A
practically went out of her mind. She had not learned to place her trust and
dependence first and foremost upon the Lord. As a possible application to
ourselves, are we so dependent upon our husband/wife that if he/she should die,
we would immediately feel we had to seek a new marriage partner?
Brother B was
brought to the Lord by Brother C, and he became an intensely devoted follower
of Brother C’s teachings. Sadly, he failed to be like the Bereans who “searched
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11), and was
carried away by serious errors taught by Brother C. Do we ever depend more upon
our Bible commentaries than upon the Bible itself, and uncritically accept
everything our favorite writer teaches?
Teenage sister
D had a very close friendship with another girl her age. They hardly did
anything or went anywhere without the other. When D’s friend wanted to try
marijuana, D went along with her, fearing to say or do anything that would
cause their friendship to break up. D’s trust and dependence upon her friend
far exceeded her trust and dependence upon her Lord and Saviour.
Our own
understanding, wisdom, righteousness, works. “Trust in the LORD with all
your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5,6).
“He who trusts
in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 27:26).
“Because you
have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be taken”
(Jer. 48:7).
“And he spoke
this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous:
two men went up into the temple to pray:the one a Pharisee and the other a
publican….” (Luke 18:9-14).
“For we are the
circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).
Most of my
readers have already read (Words of Truth, Sept/Oct 1993, page 113) or
heard me tell of the consequences of leaning to my own understanding and not
trusting in the Lord on an occasion when my car battery was dead.
Now here is
another one that you probably have not heard yet. We once had a wisteria tree
(or more like a bush) in our back yard. However, a honeysuckle bush had grown
up with it and the branches of the one were intimately entwined about the
branches of the other. One day in late winter or early spring I got the idea in
my head (did Satan put it there?) to perform major surgery on the honeysuckle.
I really whacked away with my pruning shears and cut that honeysuckle down to
ground level. However, I made three mistakes:(1) I didn’t ask God for His
help; (2) I didn’t ask my wife for her advice; and (3) as a result of mistakes
(1) and (2) I cut the wisteria to the ground and left the honeysuckle fine and
healthy. “Lean not unto your own understanding” took on a fresh and poignant
meaning to me that day.
Another aspect
of trusting our own wisdom relates to the present day cultural ideal of living
independently. Children and teenagers are taught by their parents how to launch
out on their own and live independently. But God never intended for His
creatures to live independently. He gave us parents first of all for us to
depend upon, and He counts upon parents to help their grown up children to
transfer that dependence from the parents to God Himself. When we become
elderly we will often need more and more help from others, such as our
children. If we have never learned real trust and dependence upon the Lord in
our daily lives, we are going to have a difficult time adjusting to this period
of increasing dependence upon others.
Beauty.
“Your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty, for it was perfect
through my comeliness which I had put upon you, saith the Lord GOD. But you
trusted in your own beauty” (Ezek. 15:14,15).
Young brother
or sister in Christ, are you trying to attract a life partner by means of your
physical attractiveness, strength, or athletic ability? “Favor is deceitful and
beauty is vain:but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised” (Prov.
31:30). If you marry one who is attracted only by your outer beauty, what will
happen to the marriage when that beauty begins to fade. However, if you and
your life partner are mutually attracted by each other’s “inner beauty,” that is,
your spiritual characteristics and love for the Lord and His Word and will,
that inner beauty has the potential of continual, lifelong growth and increase.
As each partner grows in conformity “to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29),
they will grow correspondingly closer to each other, making for a wonderful,
truly beautiful marriage.
In whom are you
trusting?