In God We Trust

It’s so appropriate that all our money has the motto, “In God We Trust.” To understand why it’s there, you have to go all the way back to the Civil War when a Pennsylvania pastor requested the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, place a Christian motto on our currency. Because of this request, Secretary Chase then instructed the Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

“Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.”

“In God We Trust” was then first placed on a two-cent coin in 1864. Nearly a century later, the 84th Congress made the phrase, “In God We Trust,” the national motto under President Eisenhower. The phrase also first appeared on our paper money in 1957. Every time you look at a coin or a bill, we need to be reminded of this, “In God We Trust.”

Whenever I see the words In God We Trust I reminded of the battle we all face. How good are you at trusting God? If you were to grade yourself with A being excellent to F being a failure in trusting God… … how would you grade yourself?

It’s hard work trusting God especially when we are facing increased anxiety. As foolish as it really is, there are times that I trust myself more than anyone us.

The Scripture you just heard read is part of the most famous sermon in history, The Sermon on the Mount. I suppose I chose this text today for myself as much as for anybody. Jesus mentions the words, “be anxious” 6 times in the passage you just heard read to you. It’s obvious He’s warning us against worry and anxiety.

All of us have wrestled with anxiety in our lives. Americans spend billions of dollars each year trying to understand anxiety and minimize its impact on our daily lives. Watch and see how Jesus offers us Kevlar for our minds.

1. Worry Doesn’t Work

Someone has said that worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

Most of the anxiety Jesus is dealing with here is about food and clothing: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Matthew 6:25)?

Jesus says there is more to life than food. There’s more to life than what we will wear. Take note of the very first word of verse 25, the word “therefore.” Whenever you find the word “therefore,” you should not go on forward until you understand what it is “there for.”

Jesus’ prescription against worry is really an extension of His thought in verse 24: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Jesus’ words are just as true today as they were then.

1.1 Worrying about Money

A University of California at San Diego study found that a sharp decline in the stock market was followed by a higher rate of hospitalizations over the next 2 days. They didn’t see this as a coincidence but they understood there was a correlation between financial troubles and anxiety. In a series of clever experiments involving both farmers in India and shoppers in New Jersey, scientists found that people are worse at solving puzzles when they’re first reminded of money problems. A Princeton psychologist, who helped lead the study, said the obvious, “Financial constraints capture a lot of your attention.” He continued, “Then there’s less bandwidth left to solve problems. Your cognitive ability starts to slow down, just like a computer.” I prefer how Jesus said it, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life” (Matthew 6:27)?

Worry just doesn’t work. Yes, there’s a lot of anxiety to daily life. We stress about meeting next month’s mortgage payment, rent, or making our car payments. We stress about how our children are doing in school. And we feel anxiety’s grip on us as we consider the progress of our careers. It’s as if we can invent things to stress about at times.

1.2 Three Times

If Jesus says something three times, it must be a big deal. Jesus knew ahead of time the battle we face each time we consider a dollar bill or a Roman denarius. Three times Jesus repeats the same message: “do not be anxious.” Three times.