In God We Trust

I'm not gonna lie. I like money and most people I know do too. Especially as a high school senior, it seems like all I do is fill out forms so I can get more money for college or do something that costs large amounts of money. Whether I want to admit it or not, most of what I do and where I go is determined by how much money I have or how much money it will cost me. Our society revolves around this concept of having money. Inability to make money or handle money could mean poverty, relationship destruction, added stress in the home, and significantly less opportunities to excel. Possessing large amounts of money could be equivocated with being a wokoholic, living wastefully or frivolously, more relationship strain, and mental and emotional stress.  I pay for a private school education so that I can pay for more education so that I can make more money in my life so that I will have more money when I retire so that I can leave some money behind when I die. Notice a reoccurring theme? Money.

But have you ever noticed what is written on every piece of American currency that you handle?

"In God We Trust"

Kind of ironic, isn't it? The thing we trust God with the least, our finances, is the very thing that has "In God We Trust" plastered all over it. We spend our entire lives trying to get by on our own. It's one of the most variable things in our lives. It's presence or absence is vital to maintaining our lifestyles.Our time revolves around being self-sufficient, but that's not what God wants.

II Corinthians 3:5 says, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God..."

Our money is not our own. Our talent is not our own. Our lives are not our own. When we become Christians we hand everything over to God, including our finances. We don't find our sufficiency in our wallets. We find it in our Bibles. Luke 16:13 tells us that we cannot serve both God and money. So we must choose one or the other. There's no halfway. Lovers of money cannot be lovers of God (and I'd say that if you spend more time trying to make money than you do glorifying God, you must love it more). God wants us to work diligently, support our families, utilize the gifts we have, and glorify him all at the same time, but when we stop glorifying him and start glorifying money, we're in the same troublesome boat as the rest of society. So, will you put your trust in your Savior or savings account?

For Good

Romans 8:28 is a favorite verse for Christians everywhere. It reads, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Many Christians thrive on this verse. When they read it they see that God is going to make everything work out just fine. God is going to use all of the bad things in our lives and turn them into good things. But we often neglect to read verse 29.

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

When we see the words "work together for good," we imagine happiness, stability, or satisfaction. But when God says "works together for good," he's talking about making us more like Christ, conformed to his image, and glorifying his majesty. And just for the record, Jesus was not exactly living large. He was homeless, one of his closest friends betrayed him, he was ceaselessly mocked, he was tortured, and he died a completely miserable death even though he was utterly and completely innocent. I wouldn't describe his situation as good. But God was glorified, the gospel was completed, and all the world gained access to salvation- good stuff.  For the New Testament martyrs, all things did not work for good by human standards. For Christians being persecuted throughout the world, things are not relatively working out for good. Followers of God everywhere are suffering amid terrible situations that seem to be relentless. But these people were and are becoming more like Christ as they glorify God, and that's good.

The Presence of Greatness

Today I was having a conversation with someone who said, "Last night was one of the few times that I knew that I was truly in the presence of greatness," when referring to hearing Maya Angelou speak. She said it impacted how she acted, how she thought, how she responded, and how she felt. It caused me to think about the times I've been "in the presence of greatness." I have talked to the Duchess of York, stood within 5 feet of Reba McIntire, cheered for the Titans in LP Field, seen Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and heard the Nashville Symphony perform. But all of the talent, wisdom, and character of the figures I thought of pales in comparison to the greatness that I am in the presence of every day. 

Psalm 139:7 says, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?" 

God is always around us all of the time. He is omnipresent.  We should be more than star-struck to know that our all-powerful God is willing to be near us all of the time, always available to speak with us. We need to be ceaselessly thankful for the fact that he didn't just leave us an autograph, but a 66-book-long love letter that teaches us how to live. It should affect how we think and how we act more than being in the presence of any human. We should be more excited to worship and praise our God than we are to praise our favorite performer or athlete. We should constantly acknowledge how blessed we are to always be in the presence of the ultimate greatness.

Deep & Wide

It's the song we sang all the time when I was little. We'd start off class with song & prayer, then go to the Bible story. We'd talk about Jonah, or Noah, or Jesus. But now I'm looking for something deeper.



WRONG.

I think many of us often fall into this "seeking something deeper" mindset. I get caught up in it all the time. Sometimes I feel like I can't bear to hear another retelling of the same stories, the same parables, the same prophecies, and the same miracles. But that's just it. The Bible is deep stuff. It started 6000 years ago and it still hasn't gotten old. There's always more to get out of it & new things to see. Particularly the cross.

We can't get tired of the cross. We can't get tired of the suffering sacrifice of Christ. We can't overlook the gospel because we're looking for something deeper and more profound than what we're used to hearing or reading. But there's nothing deeper than the cross. There's nothing more profound than God sending his son in human form so that he may be the living Word of God and suffer and die in our place so that we don't have to ever experience the separation from God that he experienced.

God's Word is deeper and wider than anything we could ever imagine. Don't give up on it and look for incredible wisdom in the works of man. Don't stop reading it because you think you've gotten everything out of it that you can. What the Bible offers is greater than anything man can think of or anything that man could ever want. So, when we get stuck looking for something deeper, maybe we're just stuck looking in the shallow.

I John 5:9

"If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son."

Lost in Translation

I'm in the process of working on an essay for a scholarship, so when my parents asked what I was doing I said, "analyzing how new media impacts peace around the world." However, what they heard was, "analyzing how nude videos impact pizza around the world." 

In Colossians 4:3-4 Paul says,

"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison -- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."

Paul, who has been imprisoned for proclaiming the gospel, prays that he may again share the mystery of Christ. We don't often refer to Christ as a mystery, but that's very much what he is. It is a mystery as to why he created us, knowing that we would disappoint. It is a mystery as to why he would want us to spend eternity in his presence. It is a mystery as to why he humbled himself to such an extent that he became the lowest and most despised of all of his own creation. It is a mystery as to why he lived a perfect life and died so that those far below him may die to an imperfect life and live.

We can't understand why Christ did what he did. That's why it's so hard to explain to those who don't yet believe. We often get bogged down in the confusing facts revolving around the history of Israel, creation, obscure prophecies, and the diverse interpretations of various Scriptures. But Paul tells us to pray for God to make opportunities for us and give us the ability to speak clearly concerning Christ. The Scripture also tells us that we should pray not only for ourselves, but that others may too have doors opened and that they may speak clearly. I Corinthians 14:33 tells us that our God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. God doesn't want us to be confused about what he's saying, and he certainly doesn't want our words to confuse others. If we pray that we may have the opportunity and ability to share God's gospel, and not our often opinion-tainted, humanized version, then we will be able to be filled with and fill others with the clarity that our God provides.

Those Unthankful Jews

I have spent many a Sunday school class condemning the ungrateful Israelites for grumbling in the desert after leaving Egypt. But let's be real- I know few people that can go more than four hours without complaining about being hungry, tired, or hot, much less forty years in a desert. Can you imagine all these people walking across the desert, leaving everything they knew, going to a place they did not know, and unsure of whether they and their children would even survive the journey? From the perspective of most, it seems like they have at least some right to complain. As I read about their journey I think, "God, can't you cut your chosen people a little slack? I mean, they've already been enslaved for qute a few years now and they're wandering in a desert. What on earth are you doing?" Luckily, God tells us exactly what he's doing in Deuteronomy 8.

"And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years, Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you."

God knew exactly what he was doing with the Israelites in the wilderness and he knows what he's doing in our lives today. We may struggle and complain and feel that we've got a better idea, but God's always got a master scheme to make us more like Him, draw us closer to him, and ultimately glorify his name throughout his creation. He wants us to rely on him when we face trials so that we may understand that we do not need the things of this world, but we need only our Holy Father to lead us wherever he wants to take us. But even in those hard times we need to remember his infinite blessings, like the food, clothing, and health he gave to the Israelites. God is always in control, he always knows what he's doing, and he never leaves us to fend for ourselves. We need not fear nor complain because God is with us to lead us through trials so that our faith may be strengthened and we may be blessed with the ability to glorify him.