By: Denny

The conversation goes something like this: “I lost my ______, have you seen it?” The reply usually comes in the very helpful and deeply thought-out answer, “Where did you have it last?” or “It’s probably right where you left it.” You then replay the video in your mind trying to retrace your steps and deduce where it could be. If that fails, then you end up tearing the house apart frantically searching everywhere. It’s ironically amusing when you discover things that were previously lost, and you couldn’t find before. You think, “Now how did that get here.” Even more frustrating is when you can’t find something you were just using. It could be a tool, a pen, kitchen utensil, or anything you had in your hand a minute ago. Those things aren’t lost, they are simply misplaced and usually end up being in plain sight. My wife gets mildly aggravated when I empty the dishwasher and put stuff away. I’m getting better, but sometimes I put something in the wrong place not knowing where it’s supposed to go, so I think like a man and guess. Not a good idea. Inevitably she will be in the middle of cooking and needing a certain item and can’t find it. If I remember where I put it, I retrieve it, then she shows me where it belongs. Not lost, just misplaced.

“A place for everything and everything in its place.” Many of life’s problems could and would be solved or made a whole lot easier by following that simple rule. That applies not only to physical objects, but equally and possibly more importantly to other things, such as trust. Trust: assured reliance on the character, strength, or truth of someone or something: to place confidence, depend on, hope in, to commit or place in one’s care or keeping. Nearly every commercial you see on TV is designed to gain your trust in their product or service. You put your money in a bank or trust fund because you trust it will be safe. Take a moment to reflect on the physical objects that you put your trust in on a daily basis. What do you do when you no longer trust them, or they have lost their integrity to fulfill their intended purpose? That thing you purchased trusting it would do what you expected was a piece of junk that you ended up returning or discarding. The size, value, and importance of the item determines if it’s a big deal or not. You’re probably not likely to buy another car from a dealer who sold you a lemon, or rehire a contractor who did poor work. You wouldn’t let someone borrow your things if they have a history of not returning them. Simply put, you no longer trust them, but they are the ones who lost your trust, not you. It’s very difficult to recover trust once it is lost. As the saying goes, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” To trust someone after that trust has been lost is misplaced trust on your part. However, lost trust can be redeemed, but trust has a high price to regain it. The flip side of that coin is that you never give the other person a chance to regain that trust, it’s easier to just write them off and discard them like a bad product.

Speaking of coins, the words IN GOD WE TRUST are stamped or printed on all of our currency, but do we really trust God, or has it simply become a cliche. Many people say they trust God, but write Him off when trials come, or He doesn’t do what they think He should or give them what they want when they want it. The very Word of God itself separates those who trust Him from those who don’t, when it becomes hard for them to accept and obey. So if you don’t trust God, who do you trust? Many have misplaced their trust in themselves, other people, material possessions, political and social causes, or other  things that are unreliable and will eventually fail. The Bible has much to say about who and what we should trust in. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 28: 25b-26a He who trusts in the Lord will be prospered. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. Proverbs 11:28 He who trusts in his riches will fall. Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. This year of 2024 is an election year. We will be electing leaders who we trust will honor and defend the Constitution and uphold our laws, not pandering to special interest groups. Our nation is a mess because we have misplaced our trust in many past leaders with their own agendas. They have lost any integrity they ever had, and now, we are reaping the consequences. We have thumbed our noses at God, and resorted to electing officials expecting them to solve our problems, but they have continued to mislead and lie for their own benefit, profit, and power. Yet in ignorance, codependent people are stuck in the cycle of voting for them time after time expecting things to get better, but they haven’t, and they won’t. So, before you enter the voting booth ask yourself: Based on past performance, do I have assured reliance on the character, strength, or truth of this person? Can I be confident, depend on, hope in, commit, or place into the care and keeping, my trust in the person I am voting for. The choices we make and the people we trust is going to determine what kind of future we and our posterity will have, and the future will tell if trust will be lost or has been misplaced.

Speaking of the future, where will you spend eternity? There are only two options: Heaven or Hell. Guess which one requires trust to enter and which one doesn’t. Very good, you all said Heaven. Hell requires no effort to enter, but requires trust to avoid or escape from. The Bible says that all of mankind past, present, and future fell out of fellowship with God the moment sin entered the world through Adam. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin displaced mankind from God’s presence sentencing us to spend an eternal condemnation in Hell. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death. Sin demands payment, but sinful man cannot redeem himself, he needs a savior. Enter God’s wonderful plan to save us Himself through His perfect Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus took our sin to the cross where He died in our place, and God wiped out our debt marking it paid in full. This is the love of God. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We love that part and can quote it verbatim, but how many know what verse 18 says; He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The key word is believed. The Bible records several instances where Jesus was casting out demons and they cried out, “We know who you are, you are the Christ, the Holy Son of God!” Likewise in Acts 19:14-15 there were seven sons of a chief priest who presumed to cast out a demon using the name of Jesus, whereupon the demon answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” The man with the demon then beat the tar out of them. So you see, believing involves more than just reciting His name or a mental acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God, because even the demons know that. To escape the path of Hell and condemnation a person must put their total trust (as defined earlier) in Jesus Christ to save them. Anything less than that is misplaced trust and won’t get you into God’s heaven. Jesus came down hard on the religious Pharisees because of their hypocrisies and self-serving religious traditions. They appeared so pious externally, but Jesus called them a brood of vipers saying, “How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” The key ingredient to believing is trust, and trust must be based upon truth, and truth is the Word of God, not your misguided opinions, religious ceremonies, or even good works.

Jeremiah was a prophet who was sent by God to deliver His message of judgment upon and to a rebellious nation who had turned away from God, much like the United States has today. The corruption has even infiltrated the church and religious leaders. Jeremiah 7:8-11 (The Amplified Bible) Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot benefit – so that you do not profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then dare to come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, [by the discharge of this religious formality] we are set free! – only to go on with this wickedness and these abominations? Has this house which is called by My name become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it, says the Lord. We may not literally burn incense to Baal, but that doesn’t excuse us, because we have sacrificed millions of babies on the altar of abortion. As far as other gods, it can be any object, cause, job, relationship, hobby, social media, political agenda, or anything else that becomes an idol and consumes all our time and takes the place of God.

I often wonder how much further down the slippery slope of moral depravity and self-destruction we have to go before God says it is enough and comes back for His church; those who truly trust and believe. On the other hand, I know there are so many who have yet to come to faith in Christ and trust Him as their Savior. We, as believers, have the wonderful privilege and responsibility to proclaim the good news of the gospel to them. God has placed His trust in us to do our part. He never misplaces anything, so let us not lose it for Him either.