"So, who can you trust?" I caught myself the other day almost saying those words out loud. I had heard one too many stories about how trust had been breached in the government and the banking system. The new Treasury Secretary (with control over the IRS and most of our financial lives) freely admits that he himself intentionally failed to pay his taxes, even though he was counseled on a number of occasions that it was against the law. The media labels it as a "hiccup" and the congressional committee approves his selection.

The banks that recently received billions upon billions of dollars as a bail out now refuse to lend the money to consumers. Instead, they continue secretly to squirrel it away, all the while lobbying for more.

It’s enough to make even the most trusting individual a little wary. Once trust has been violated in a child, he or she begins a pattern that results in a very frustrated, jaded adult who is robbed of the joy of life. Once trust has been violated in a nation, the seeds of anarchy find fertile soil and individuals begin to look out only for themselves. So I ask, what is an individual to do when trust no longer exists?

Three words come to mind and will form the outline of my message this morning:

Fail . . . Fall . . . Fill.

The Lord in His Word addresses the reality that men fail, that nations fall. His remedy then as now is the same. We need to be filled anew with His Holy Spirit. Our trust was never intended to be placed on fallible frail human beings. The Bible is true; "Some trust in horses, some in chariots, but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God."

Let’s allow Him to adjust our souls and to renew our spirits. Amen?