Rightly placed trust

“Let’s sword fight,” she exclaimed, holding a stick in each hand. Looking back and forth between each fist, she decided which one would belong to her and which one would belong to me. There was a clear winner.

In her left hand she held a stick that was thicker and a few inches longer than the one clutched in her right hand. Using all of her toddler wisdom, she extended her right hand to me, “Here you go, Mommy! This is your sword.”

It appeared she had made the right choice. Looking out for number one. She kept the larger stick for herself, confident she would win the pending sword fight between the two of us. Never mind that I am taller, stronger, and more coordinated. She had the larger stick, therefore she was certain of a victory.

Where do you put your confidence? In whom, or what, is your trust placed?

Whoever is holding the biggest stick?

I have learned a great lesson, many times over, about misplaced trust. Those lessons tend to stem from moments of defeat, when the thing or the person who held my trust didn’t come through.

When the stock market crashed.

When government secrets were exposed.

When the health care system had no solution.

When the relationship failed.

When the long-standing company closed its doors.

“The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” – Psalm 20:6-7

There is no stick big enough, friend. Each and every one or thing that holds your trust will let you down. You will never find true victory trusting in flesh-wrapped people or man-made things.

If we only keep our eyes on the things around us, we will allow the biggest, strongest, and most successful to hold our trust. But if we lift our eyes to the One above us, our perspective will change.

As the songs says, “things of this earth will grow strangely dim” because they pale in comparison to the One who is over them all. To the One who is greater than the greatest, stronger than the strongest, wiser than the wisest.

So while some may trust in leaders, markets, medicine, or sticks, let it be said that we, God’s people, wholly trust in the name of the Lord.