In God They Trust

 "This is what the Lord says: 'Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: That they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.'" Jeremiah 9: 23, 24

    If I were feeling down about something or too self-absorbed, my folks used to advise me to reach out to others, help someone in need, or observe those less fortunate. On Easter, due to a sudden death in our family, the grief was all-consuming. With the echo of my childhood teachings in mind, I plunked down with the remote to search for something edifying. What I found was so inspiring it was medicinal. 

    Franklin Graham stood at a podium in the heart of Lviv, Ukraine to deliver an Easter message. Before he began, he introduced a jubilant choir, mostly composed of refugees due to the Russian invasion of their country. Though these people had lost everything, they were far from poor for they retained the thing most valuable: Righteousness with the Living God. And, boy, did they let it show by their beaming smiles and utmost enthusiasm as they raised their voices in worship. 

    The next day, a newspaper report of the Ukrainian crisis served to seal my understanding of this Christian nation. Moscow had defiantly given a deadline to surrender, but the spunky Ukrainians rejected it, vowing to fight to the end. It was their president's Easter greeting that delighted me the most: "The Lord's Resurrection is a testimony to the victory of life over death, good over evil."

    Indeed! This is what a Christian nation looks like - one which boasts only in the Lord Jesus Christ. One which depends upon the testimony of a risen, living Savior who exercises the justice so sorely needed and, until that victory has been achieved, they will tell the world the reason behind the hope they have. 

    In God they trust.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." Psalm 20:7