In God We Trust

For those of us who are a believer and follower of Christ, the phrase "In God we trust" is (supposed to be) more than just a phrase that appears upon US currency, but rather, more of a life long motto and statement of fact.  And while we do say it, do we really mean it?  Do we really trust God?

For instance, no few know the scripture verse from Matthew chapter 6, verse 34:  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."  Yet, we do still worry, do we not.  And not even always about huge life and death matters but, more often than not, we do sweat the "little things".  While one could probably fill pages about trusting God with everything from our tiny day to day cares to those of much greater span, that is not what has been placed upon my heart and mind at the moment.

At this moment, it is FORGIVENESS which has my focus.

Now then, we know that we are called by Christ to forgive.  That is (or it should be anyway) nothing new especially to those of us who call ourselves by His name.  We are to forgive, just as we ourselves, have been forgiven.

It may come as a bit of a suprise to you, that just saying "I forgive <whatever>/<whomever>" does not make it so.  After all, it is our heart that God sees with such amazing clarity and not whatever lip  service we say and offer or whatever forced action we may take.  So merely saying the phrase yet still holding onto resentment or bitterness within our heart towards another, is of little use and is as a fake as a "three dollar bill".  So what does the term "In God we trust" have to do with forgiveness?

Everything.

You know, I have been trying to just rattle off a nice little example to use here, but since this is one of those times in which I am writing as He walks me personally through things, it appears that this will be another one of those times in which I get to share some personal information.

Some time back, I went through a pretty rough spot in life.  A long term relationship had ended.  Friendships were broken.  Seperation from a church that I was comfortable in.  People whom I had considered to be friends seemingly vanished from my life.  All in all, a pretty icky time period for yours truly.  And, as you may have noticed, there were other people involved.  And yes, a good chunk were saved themselves which, I got to tell you, made things all the harder to deal with.  Now then, I am not so foolish as to lay full blame upon others.  I played my part and for that I do take responsiblity.  But, I do have to admit here that I was hurt.  Very to be honest.

Now as a "good little Christian" I would so love to tell you that I forgave and just moved on.  I could tell you that but, as any who follow this to any amount should know, I try to be honest.  So I cannot tell you that even though I did try and tell myself that all the while with some rather nasty stuff away churning within me.

I did try to forgive those whom I had perceived to have intentionally caused me such pain and suffering (I say perceived because we frequently tend to see things from our view point that another may not either see nor even meant).  But all I was doing was saying it.  Eventually, God was gracious enough to allow me to see that and led me to search out a bit more about what actually forgiving someone was.  About how it involved releasing another's (or my own) actions from my own personal judgements among other things.  How it is a choice that we make - we choose to forgive - it is an action not merely a passive decision.

So had I forgiven the past after that little tour?  While I was closer, again I must admit that no, I had not completely let it go.  Some still hung on.  And I knew it.  Until He gave me that final puzzle piece that (somehow) I had missed in the shuffle.

"In God we trust"

Romans 8, verse 28 reads:  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.."

I have said it before and I will say it again - I have been truly blessed in that God allows me to see purpose in past events - both good and bad.  I know it is not something that everyone sees, so yes, I do consider myself blessed.

At present, I am back in the town I grew up in and had no happy memories of.  That has changed as I see it so differently than I did when I was growing up here.  Then again, since we "are" new creations upon salvation, I guess "I" never really did live here before in a sense.  I am in a relationship with a wonderful Christian woman who shares so much of my own heart in so many different areas, not the least of which is all things of Christ in nature.  I have become a bit closer to my parents than I had been probably ever before.  And, it appears that I am to be entering university this upcoming fall to study theology as I have finally finished arguing and trying to comprimise with God over the call He has put so very hard upon my life.

Sounds good eh?  Here is the kicker - NONE of that would have likely been even vaguely possible had I still been in that nice comfortable place I had been in before.  Had not God allowed those (unpleasant) events to unfold in my life, I would have missed so very, very much.

Now the tie in between forgiveness, Romans 8:28 and our recurring theme becomes much clearer.

IF I truly do trust God and that does include believing what He says in Romans 8 (and the rest of His word as well), then how could I even conceive holding any kind of resentment towards another due to, well, anything really.  See, in my own case, had He not allowed things to happen the way they had, I would not be where I am now.  That does not even take into account whatever has happened with everyone else involved or with those whom I have become involved with since.  Things played out the way they did because they had to for (at least) MY own good.  God knew what I needed after all just as well as He knew what He needed and wanted from me.

Do you see it?  Those things in our life that we can so easily hold a grudge against someone because of - if we truly trust that God is in control and that He is doing what is the best for us - then they are almost no more than stepping stones along the way.  Whether they be for our benefit, anothers' or both.  Granted we may never get to see all of the purpose behind things, but to trust in Him means that we KNOW that there is a purpose and it is a good one for all concerned.

So trust God and make the conscious decision to let go of those wounded feelings and ill will - forgive just as you have been forgiven.

Moose Meese?

One goose, two geese
One Moose, two meese?
No - two moose


One mouse, two mice
One house, two hice?
Two houses


Sometimes the english language just does not seem to make a ton of sense. Like I remember learning to read and thinking that knife must have been something other than, well, a knife since obviously what I knew to be a knife must start with an N not a silent K. I have little doubt that you can come up with oodles of your own beyond that or the two at the top of the page.

Although, seeing as one of the gifts that God has seen fit to give me is with regards to the written word, those words can become quite important - in particular, their meanings.

More than once He has led me to explore the meaning of a particular word. As a rule, this has been a word that I have used many times but maybe just never fully, really understood. I do have to admit that I have found these little explorations helpful. That said, am going to share a couple with you. Perhaps you may find them helpful as well.

We, as believers, tend to use a number of words with regards to our faith. I have heard the phrase "talking Christianese" more than once, and really, it fits. But do we "really" know what we are saying when we use them. Just because we can use them in the proper context does not mean we actually know what they mean or can explain them without using the word itself. Personally, I find examples or analogies to be helpful in understanding things (which, if you have been following this for any length of time, should come as no surprise to you). So without further delay...

Grace and Mercy.

You can have grace without mercy but you cannot have mercy without grace. Grace is a necessary part of mercy. I know many use those terms almost synonymous with each but they are different.

I am walking through the park and I have a bag of yummy, home made chocolate chip cookies with me. I see you sitting at a bench, minding your own business. I walk over and give you a cookie.

That is grace. You did nothing to earn it. I gave it to you "just because" I could do so. "Just because" is not a bad way to think of grace really. God offers us salvation "just because" He can do so - nothing to do with anything we do - grace not works, right.

Same scenario as above - basically. Difference being, I have seen you throughout the week/day and you have done everything you could think of to tick me off or get under my skin. You hardly deserve a cookie. More like you deserve to watch me eat the whole bag alone or share with your friends and not you. Instead, though, I give you a cookie.

Mercy - contains grace but takes it a step further again. Not only did you not earn it but you actually deserve something else - something not so pleasant as a rule.

God's mercies are new for us each day. We hardly deserve the good we get, but we do still get it "just because" He can give it to us.

I know that may seem overly simple but really, sometimes we make things more complicated than they need to be.

Now three more:

Love, Hate and Forgive.


Simplest way to define love is with the word "selflessness" - thinking of what another wants/needs above and beyond what you want or need - basically forgetting the word "I" in your vocabulary. I know I have heard it referred to as an emotion, but that is not completely correct.

It is 2am. You need to get up for work at 6am. Your new born child in the other room has just woken up, screaming at the top of their lungs. You NEED your sleep. Do you roll over, cover your head with a pillow, turn of the baby monitor and ignore them? Probably not. You get up, pick them up, try everything you can think of before you end up just holding them and walking around until 3:30am when they finally fall back to sleep.

That is love. You may need and want your sleep, but you put what your child needs over your own. Jesus was the sanest person, by far, who ever walked this earth. You think He wanted to get betrayed, mocked, tortured then executed in the most painful way possible in His day? Not bloody likely. But we NEEDED Him to pay that price for us, since we could not do so ourselves. Our NEED came first. Love.

What of the emotional thought though? Something to consider: you cannot have two different emotions at the same, exact time. Sure you can switch back and forth pretty quickly, but you cannot feel happy and angry and the exact same time.

Little Timmy has been a total pain today. From the time he awoke he has been trying to find new ways to drive you out of your mind - and he has been pretty successful. He shaved an inverse mohawk into his sisters head. Painted the cat with nail polish before letting them run wild all over the new living room set. Pretty much everything imaginable and it is only 11am. You lose it. You lose your temper (not viciously or anything of the like) and yell at him to go to his room. You are angry with him at the moment. If love is an emotion, and you cannot have two at once, then does that mean when you got angry with Timmy that you no longer loved him at that time? Nonsense. Of course you still love him. the fact that you love him is part of the reason you got angry - part of why you sent him to his room - he needs to to settle down.


God has gotten angry a time or two with us. He was angry with Israel in the OT more than once. Jesus was angry when He cleared out the temple courts when people had set up, basically, a mini-mall there. If love were merely an emotion, then at those times God did not love us - which is not possible considering who He is.

Hate. By definition, hate is to be actively opposed to someone or something.

In the tv show "The Simpsons", there is one episode in which Homers' next door neighbor Ned opens up "The Leftorium" - a shop that carries left handed versions of common right handed items. Good idea. Ned puts everything he has into the store, but things are not going well. No one comes in to buy anything. Even the local "hooligans" do not bother shop lifting there. Ned is losing everything - quickly. As the show goes on, we see Homer going through his day. He sits in his boss' office and listens to him complain about having to try and use a right handed can opener. he starts to speak, then decides to not do so. At the local bar, the bartender complains about a right handed corkscrew. Again, Homer says nothing. Homer is actively working against Ned by not saying anything - by not helping him with his need. By the end, however, Homer does give in and tell everyone he knows about Ned's store and Ned's home and life are saved.


Before the end of the show when he turns it around, Homer is "hating" Ned. Sure there may be some emotions involved, but hate by itself is not an emotion.

Forgive. Big word for us who believe, isn't it? After all, we are forgiven. We are also told to forgive others - not just people we like either.

I would say that, for the most part, we know that to forgive is to not hold whatever against whomever. But what does that look like really? It is easy to say, but doing and saying tend to be somewhat different. Let's go back to kids for this one (I love kids).

If you are a parent and have at least one child over the age of say 8, then there is a good chance that at some point your child has been mad at you and/or taken a temper tantrum. While it is hardly a regular thing, sometimes when your little bundle of joy is seriously ticked - usually because they have heard the word "no" when they did not want to - they will look you straight in the eye and say those three, unpleasant, little words: "I hate you".

If you are a parent and you have heard those three words at some point, you know how your heart feels in that moment. It is devastating. Even if they do not really know what it is that they are saying - they do not understand the meaning fully - it still hurts big time.

So in your moment of pain, what is your reaction? Not only immediately but afterward. Later on do you tell your child that they cannot have desert because they hate you? No hug or kiss for you - you hate me remember? I don't want you to sit on my knee - you hate me. Not likely. While it does in fact hurt that they said it, you do not act any differently towards them after the fact. even though you do remember their actions and words and the feelings within, you still act and react to them with love - never working against them in spite of hurt feelings.

That would be a picture of forgiveness.

Perhaps you are thinking "but it is different when it is something bigger and more adult than that". Not true. We, again, are the ones whom make things bigger. God does not tell us to forgive only the little things, but everything. He does not say to forgive only when we feel better or we no longer feel or recall the pain - He just says forgive. Not only forgive those whom we like but everyone. In spite of how WE feel, we are to forgive. After all, what is it if we can only forgive people we like for little things - cannot pretty much anyone do that already?

Have you noticed that the last three words have a common thread? It is what they are, as opposed to what they are not. If one had to label them, the best label would be "choice". Not an emotional state, although all three can be influenced and bring out emotions for certain. We choose to love - we choose to hate - we choose to forgive.

Perhaps these definitions and examples are bit simplistic (I could probably have rambled on about word origins and whatnot pretty easily - like charis for example), but as I have said before, sometimes simple is easier than complex (makes sense really).

I leave you with one final word: forsake.

"...the Lord, your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you"~Deut.31:6
(Among other places as well)

Leave we understand, but do you know forsake? Allow me a quick translation:

the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you, He will never give you up

He will never leave you
He will never Give.You.Up

Lot of comfort in that thought, isn't there?

PS: if you are not saved and you are reading through this, take note of grace: no matter how much bad you feel you have done in your lifetime, salvation is still freely (by grace) offered from God. No one who has done a lot of "good" can ean their way into heaven or into good standing with God. It is freely offered - just because He can.

Forgive the length please - may God grant you great mercy, by His grace alone.