In What Are You Trusting?

Politics have become quite polarizing in recent years. Why is there so much dissension surrounding human governments? Simply stated, it’s because they are run by humans!

I think most people have ideas of what they think a just nation should look like. The problem is, these ideas vary from person to person. Unity in a nation will only come when an idea is shared, and when everyone is standing on the same foundation.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

With God and His Word as the foundation, blessings will follow.

Printed on all currency in the United States is “In God We Trust”. In the Pledge of Allegiance, we say “One Nation Under God.”

But do those words line up with our actions? Do we truly trust God? Do we follow what He says? Are we willing to submit to His commands, which are given for His glory and our good? Is our hope in Him alone?

How would you answer the question: In what are you trusting?

Strength?

The Bible tells us about an ancient king named Nebuchadnezzar. He was a very proud man, and powerful. He was the leader of an expansive kingdom. Nations and people feared him and his armies. He came to believe that it was all because of his own power and that it was all for his glory (Daniel 4:28-30). But God made sure that Nebuchadnezzar was put in his place, right then and there:

“While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen…until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.’ That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” (Daniel 4:31-33).

For seven years, this once powerful king (or so he thought) lived like that. Talk about a humbling experience! When God finally released Him from that punishment and his sanity was restored, Nebuchadnezzar said:

“I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven, And among the inhabitants of the earth…” (Daniel 4:34-35).

You see, no one on earth has strength that is not given by God, nor strength that can’t be taken away by God at any time. We are wrong to think that we can somehow become strong and powerful enough to control our own lives and make things happen the way we want them to.

Instead, we should pray as the psalmist did:

“My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

And remember that:

“…those who wait on the Lord, Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

No matter what you face, you can find peace in every circumstance because your faith is not in your own perceived power, but in God’s real power and sovereignty. The reason you can trust in God this way is because He showed His love for you when He sent Jesus Christ to set you free from the power of sin and death, and to enable you to have access to the throne of God and find all you need for this life. He also gives sustaining hope of eternal life in Heaven when you die.

The Apostle Paul said he learned how to be content, no matter what he faced – good or bad – because it wasn’t his own strength that He trusted in. Instead, he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Money?

Are you constantly consumed with paying bills, making purchases, earning money, and building wealth? There is nothing inherently wrong with money. It’s part of life, and we need it to live in society. However, it’s when money becomes our sole focus – an idol – that we should take a step back.

When Jesus walked this earth, he spoke a parable to the crowds who were listening to Him:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).

Jesus was not saying that we shouldn’t build proper structures and take care of the blessings we receive. The point of this parable was that we should not be like this man and put so much confidence in money and wealth and things, as though they provide our security. Notice how Jesus drew attention to the fact that money cannot prevent your death. And if it doesn’t have power over death, it doesn’t provide real security at all. Instead, our attention should be on God and where we will spend eternity.

The Apostle Paul also taught that we should flee from the love of money, which is at the root of all kinds of evil (greed can bring a lot of pain and sorrow in its wake!), and instead “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life…” and to not “trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:10-12, 17).

Also remember that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, your confidence is not in money, but rather in His faithful presence and promise to meet all of your needs.

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

People?

Do you think if certain people get in power or stay in power that they will make life better? Do you think you can trust in others to make you secure or keep you safe?

The prophet Jeremiah prophesied against his own people for how far they had wandered from God. Because of that, they definitely could not be trusted.

“‘Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:4-6).

There were many times in Israel’s history when the people chose to trust in other nations than in God, who alone had the power to overcome their enemies. God warned them not to turn to Egypt for help, because Egypt would eventually fall and lose all its power, but they did it anyway. He reminded them:

“Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit” (Isaiah 31:3).

They refused to accept this promise of God:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

The psalmist warned:

“Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. Happy is he … Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever” (Psalm 146:3-6).

God’s blessings are on those who trust Him. Have you looked to Jesus for salvation and received true security in His forgiveness and grace? In Him, you can have true peace:

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).