‘In God We Trust’ – so says America’s currency. But do we?

Lola Dardar
July 27, 2010
Senator Circle residents oppose duplex donation
July 29, 2010
Lola Dardar
July 27, 2010
Senator Circle residents oppose duplex donation
July 29, 2010

A man was walking along the side of a cliff when he fell. On the way down, he reached out and managed to grab hold of a branch. As he was hanging there, trying to figure out how he would keep from falling into the canyon below, he shouted out, “Is there anybody there?”

To his amazement, a voice from the heavens replies, “I am the Lord, your God. Let go and I’ll save you. Trust me and I will take care of you.”


The man thought for a moment and then yelled back, “Is there anyone else there?”


We are very much like that man hanging on the branch. When asked to put our complete trust in God, we get nervous and look around for other options. We depend on other sources of security rather than the Almighty.

Our U.S. currency contains the words, “In God We Trust.” Any apparent or real treat to remove those words from our money is met with a barrage of e-mails and other forms of protests.


However, the real question is: do we really put our trust in God or do we have more confidence in our military might, our own resources, our wealth, our status as the most powerful nation in the world?


The Bible has interesting stories about those who relied on God and those who did not.

In the 8th Century B.C., the king of Assyria was conquering all the nations of the world. The northern kingdom of Israel was very wealthy and had turned away from God and relied on its own resources.

When the Assyrians attacked, they fell to the power of King Shalmaneser. The 10 tribes of Israel were brought into exile and mixed with others nations never to be found again.

When the Assyrians turned their attention to the southern kingdom of Judah, the king’s messenger sent word to the people of Judah telling them to give up, that their God cannot save them. When the righteous King Hezekiah heard this, he turned to the Lord and prayed in the temple. The prophet Isaiah assured the king and the people that the king of Assyria, “shall not come into this city, or shoot an arrow there.” (II Kings 19:32)

“That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.” (II Kings 19: 35-36) The king of Assyria left, and went home to Nineveh. The whole nation put their trust in the Lord.

One day, King David decided to take a census. His purpose was not to find out how many people lived in his kingdom, but to know how many fighting men he could count on for his future battles. God punished David because he failed to put his trust in God and relied on his military might.

Remember the story of Gideon. He assembled 30,000 troops to fight against the Midians. However, the Almighty said that this was too many – they would give all the glory to their military might. So God had Gideon reduce the amount of troops to 300. With those 300 men, he defeated the Midianites and their allies. Gideon and his men acted and trusted on the word of God.

To trust in God means that we, as individuals and as a nation, must let go of any illusions that we can control all our situations. This is not easy to do. We need to recognize a power greater than ourselves. Can God get us through this present financial crisis, the oil spill or the threat of terrorists? All this will happen if we really believe “In God We Trust.”