In God We Trust

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity" (Jer. 29:11).

From the beginning, God always wanted to walk with us, to be close to us.  He walked with Adam in the garden, and until he sinned, Adam was comfortable talking the the Lord each day.  Sin has a way of making us hide from God, walking away from His Presence in our lives.  We no longer want to talk with Him anymore, because we are conscious that we are doing the wrong thing, and we feel ashamed to be asking Him for help.  But even then, the plans God has for us have not changed---they are still plans to prosper and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.

Jesus said that He came to heal and restore the lost and the broken----and more than anything else, He embodied the spirit of His Father toward mankind.  There is a scripture that says, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  If we want to know God's Presence and plans for us, we need to "draw near" to Him so we can feel His Presence and hear His plans.

God has not promised us a life without storms---but He has promised to be with us in the storms and to be our shelter in the storm.  In Ps. 56, David, who was pursued by King Saul for years and had to hide out in the wilderness for his life, says this:

When I am afraid,

I will trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

In God I trust; I will not be afraid.

What can a mortal man do to me?

The United States first started putting "In God We Trust" on its coins during the Civil War, but it was not until the height of the Cold War, in 1955, that Eisenhower made it the official motto of our nation under the constant threat of nuclear war.

When Jesus celebrated the Passover Meal with His disciples, He was celebrating the deliverance of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, and He made Himself the lamb that was slain to provide food for the journey, whose blood on our doorposts would preserve us from the Angel of Death.  He used the most common elements of our lives---bread and wine----to say, "I am here; I am with you in your eating and in your living; in your going out and in your coming in, in your joys and in your troubles, in your struggles and in your pain---I am always with you.  I will never leave you or forsake you.  Draw close to Me, and I will draw close to you.

When Moses was leading the Israelites through the desert, He said to Yahweh, If your presence does not go with us, then do not send us up from here.  What else will distinguish me and your your people from all the other people on earth?  And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.

If we want to know the Lord's Presence and Plans for us, let us spend 5 minutes a day just with Him, drawing near to His Presence and listening with our hearts.  We cannot and will not be disappointed.