Trust in God.  Yes, trust in God.  Have you ever noticed what your pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and every bill in America has in common?  They all say, “In God we trust.”  With that in mind, think of how symbols of strength and power have changed throughout history.  Back in the time of King David, for example, a horse was a symbol of strength. After all, horses helped armies win wars, helped workers build cities, and even pulled the king’s chariot. Have you ever stood next to a horse? They definitely are impressive! It’s no wonder people started to rely on them. . . even put their whole trust in them.

I remember an experience I had with a horse once that really got my heart racing!  I stood in the saddle, leaning hard forward, boots planted deep into the stirrups as my horse raced neck and neck toward the big oak tree. Forty years later, that great memory still makes me scream “Yee-haw!”  Today, for my daughter’s thirteenth birthday, I went online to see if I could take her and her friends for a little trail ride. To my surprise, there are almost no more horseback riding places anywhere near the Twin Cities, even with our population of nearly four million people.  My, how quickly things change.

It’s interesting because earlier today, in my prayer time, I read Psalm 20, which is a beautiful poem about placing our trust in God.  Verse 7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7 NIV).  Look how silly trusting in horses and chariots sounds to us today! Most of us have never seen a chariot except in a movie, and I’ll bet many of us have never bathed, fed or combed a horse, let alone rode on a horse during a hard gallop!

So, what do modern people trust in today? Money? Our job? Brand-new cars? Being politically savvy or in the know? Our favorite team winning the big game? All of these are as fleeting as the fastest horses and chariots. Perhaps a good indicator of where we place our trust can be found in how we spend our time and money.

See, our trust will follow where our heart leads. And what we are investing our time and money into betrays our heart’s greatest love. Do our lifestyles and decisions confirm the trust we claim to have in the Lord?  After all, horses, money and cars – all are temporal.  But God alone is eternal.  He was there at the beginning and will be there at the end. And best of all, God loves us. That’s why we can trust in God.

Let’s pray. “Dear Jesus, please help me – help us – to put all of our trust in you. Help us to see your everlasting beauty and strength: Strength that does not fail. We want to rise up and stand firm as we trust in your mighty name. Amen.”  My friends, Jesus paid a huge price for you to have an abundant life, and he wants you to get what he paid for. If you want more Jesus, more joy and more abundance in your life we’d like to offer you a free MP3 audiobook or PDF of “Why Wait to Be Happy?” Say “Yee-haw!” with me as we place our trust in the only one who is fully worthy and fully reliable!