Trust in the Lord

Designed to do so, a magazine column's title caught my eye.  I read the words printed in bold type -- "In trusts we trust" (Orman). 

We observe the repeated pattern.  We see it in Cain's faulty offering; in Achan's sin; in the greed of the kings of Israel and Judah; in Malachi's cry against robbing God; in Judas' thirty silver coins; in Ananias and Sapphira dropping dead in their doorways and in our own habits today.  We see the pattern of trusting in material possessions more so than God's provision.

A few years ago, as my family sat around our dining table sharing a meal and conversation, the topic of money arose - during which I observed that it would probably be really fun to have a whole lot of money.  To that, my youngest son replied, "You need a whole lot of God."  Out of the mouths of babes!  Whether by happenstance or design, my son summarized the words of Jesus.

^19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

^22-23 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

²⁴ “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both. 

Matthew 6:19-24 (The Message)

As one trusts the Lord, he or she learns to store treasures in the proper box, Two practices that you can embrace will help you store your treasures well:

1)  Discover Contentment.

Once we start on the cycle of "If only . . . ," there is no stopping.  We pray for a new job, but then imagine life would be much more pleasant if we got a promotion.  Two weeks after the promotion, we realize the new boss is a jerk and think how much better it would be if we had a new supervisor.  This obsessive rewriting of our desires and expectations can drive us crazy.  (Thomas Nov. 20)

Practice contentment!

2)  Trust in the Lord.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Proverbs 3:5-7 (The Message)

Jesus taught us to pray for daily bread.  Have you ever noticed that children ask for lunch in utter confidence that it will be provided.  They have no need to stash away today's sandwiches for fear none will be available tomorrow.  As far as they are concerned, there is an endless supply of sandwiches.  (Foster 40)

For further reading . . .

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998.

Orman, Suze.  "In trusts we trust." The Costco Connection. (March 2013): 15.

Thomas Gary, "Seek Soul Satisfaction / The 'If Only' Cycle" Men of Integrity. Vol. 15, No. 6 (2012): Nov. 20, 2012.