In God We Trust

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

– 2 Corinthians 5:5

If you’ve inspected your pocket change recently, you may have noticed a different look for some of your quarters. Beginning in 2022 and continuing through 2025, the U.S. Mint will each year issue up to five new reverse-side designs for the 25-cent piece — all to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women toward America’s development and history. Also, the obverse (heads side) of each coin maintains the likeness of George Washington, but now it faces to the right.

The familiar In God We Trust inscription is something that has not changed on the revamped quarter. And for more than 150 years, American coins — and later paper currency — have displayed the credo. According to the US Treasury, a Pennsylvania minister in 1861 recommended to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase that American coins should “recognize Almighty God in some form.” Chase agreed and instructed the director of the Philadelphia Mint to prepare an appropriate motto. 

“No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense,” he wrote. “The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.”

In 1864, In God We Trust made its first appearance on the two-cent coin. How ironic is it that “Godless” money should cite such an important reminder about the real source of our security? But if we’re honest with ourselves, perhaps the motto should read, In GOLD We Trust. After all, when life gets tough, it’s only natural to rely on our money, riches, and possessions rather than the One who makes it possible to earn a living in the first place. Experience shows that reliance on job security and the stock market is foolhardy at best — particularly in these days of high inflation and economic uncertainty. 

It’s an inconvenient truth: Our bank accounts are no defense against life’s hard realities. Terminal illnesses strike, relationships fail, and that which seemed solid turns to dust in our hands. What we desperately need is something — or Someone — who embodies rock-solid certainty and trust.

Jesus paints a vivid picture of this universal quest through his story about a foolish man who built a house on shifting sands. When the storm struck, the rains came and the winds blew with fury. It’s no surprise that the flimsy structure collapsed with a crash. But in comparison the wise man built his house on a foundation of solid rock. So, when the storm clouds of life boiled on the horizon, that house withstood even the heaviest downpour.

This leads us to the obvious question: Are you counting on your uncertain finances to save you when the realities of life happen? If so, why not trust in God: The One who not only made you, but knew everything about you before you were born. 

“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust,” we read in Psalms, “who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.”

In God We Trust is much more than a motto found on money. It’s solid truth that we can take to the bank!