READ: HEBREWS 10: 21-23
Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promises. (V. 23)
The accountant at a major construction company became suspicious of invoices being submitted for heavy equipment rentals by one of the companies’ most trusted Project Superintendents. She realized the invoices were being submitted long after his building project was nearing completion. When she raised her concerns to the corporate owners, she was brushed off as being overly zealous due to her expressed dislike for the man and his operational methods. Acting on her own, and with encouragement from her police officer boyfriend, she uncovered a large embezzlement scheme costing the company thousands of dollars. The trusted Superintendent had been submitting false invoices for heavy equipment. The company invoice address was the home address of one of his friends, a co-conspirator , who would cash the checks and split the proceeds with the Project Manager. Trust in the boisterous and bullying Superintendent, who could get things done quickly and at maximum profit, had been misplaced. The accountant received an overdue apology and was praised for her diligence.
In another case, I was called upon to investigate as a Detective assigned to the Fraud Squad, the owners of a home construction company had given total control of their business and personal finances to their “Bookkeeper.” She rarely took a day off and would come into the office on nights and weekends to pay their personal bills and balance their checking accounts. In their eyes, she was nothing short of a “saint.” Everything was rolling along fine until one of the owner’s wives went to withdraw money from her checking account and was refused due to “insufficient funds.” This led to the discovery that the saint had become a sinner to the tune of over $250,000. When she was arrested, she said she felt abused, neglected and underappreciated for all her work and was therefore entitled to the money. In short, trust on one side of the relationship was misplaced and on the other side never existed.
Trust is a fragile element in the course of human interactions. It can be positively reinforced or totally broken by the slightest word or action and is only afforded to those whose words, behaviors and actions exhibit the highest levels of integrity and honor. Try as we might, at one point or another in our lives we, have been less than trustworthy. We have also been hurt when others have violated the trust we have placed in them. But when we place our trust in God, we can be absolutely confident in his promises for salvation, forgiveness and eternal life—you can take that to the bank!!
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Trust in the Lord will never produce broken, half-hearted, or false promises.
Dear God, help me keep my trust firmly planted in the righteousness of your Son, for all other ground is truly sinking sand.