Trust is having confidence, reliance, faith, and hope in something or someone. When any kind of commitment is made total trust needs to be there. When trust is not the foundation of relationships it will be more prone to being unstable.
Though it is impossible to think this might happen today in 1955 Congress passed a law that would proclaim to the world that as a nation we trusted in God. Every form of American money would carry the motto, “In God we trust.”
The Bible proclaims that money is the root of all evil and many could attest to this. Money can sometimes make even one of the most honest people lie, cheat, steal, covet, or even murder. An ironic thing is at the root of all evil has either printed or engraved on it a message of hope to encourage one to trust God. This motto that is on every type of American money makes it that anyone with a penny to their name has something of value that proclaims the trust that each person could have in God.
Many, including myself have at some point dropped a penny on the ground but we leave it lying there instead of bending over to pick it up. A probable reason we do this is because we feel it’s value is so little that it is not worth our effort to pick it back up. There are some people who have been so hurt by others that they trust no one. I once saw someone wearing a t-shirt that advertised to, “trust no one.” How pathetic a life must be not to be able to trust anyone nor for anyone to be able to trust you. It can be truly devastating when the trust you have in someone is broken. From personal experience I have told people certain things in confidence, only later to learn they have told someone else. This is made it difficult to trust these people again.
When people learn to trust in God and have a reliance in Him they can be confident in their faith that whatever may come against them there is hope for a better day. If you are one who does not trust, or finds it difficult to trust others, or God, then you may be one who at one point dropped your faith, like a penny to the ground and never stopped to pick it back up. If this person is you, go back to the place and search for the penny you dropped. When you see it lying there covered in dirt, bend over and pick it up and wipe away the grime and read the words, “In God we trust,” and find out what that means to you.
Originally written 9-15-99
TRS
Rays of Hope 