Always been a matter of trust

The news has reached an unparalleled level of fakeness. The numbers are cooked, the people quoted are actors, the details of the story are consistently fudged, the story itself is highly unlikely, if not implausible, on and on.

I have always remembered my favorite professor from Ohio State University, Henry H. Schulte, Sunday Editor-in-chief of the Chicago Daily News when it folded in 1978, telling us, "When you see the disappearance of a free and independent press that is the downfall of a society."

Last week's headlines on Drudge Report and elsewhere were about how, as the BBC reported, "Trust in the news has fallen to an all-time low globally, according to a Reuters News study."

Mediaite said about this study: "Americans are extremely cynical about the media. A Gallup poll last October showed that trust in media had sunk to its lowest level ever since the pollster began tracking the issue in the 1970s. Seventy percent of Americans said they had 'not very much' confidence or 'none at all' in mass media like newspapers, TV, and radio to report the news 'fully, accurately and fairly.' "

Also last week came this news: "A Fox News poll found that trust in the federal government has collapsed to a record low. The poll, conducted between June 12 and 15 among 1,002 respondents, found that just 25 percent of Americans trust the federal government, the lowest level ever recorded in Fox News polling." 

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The word “trust,” in all its forms, appears 191 times in the King James Bible.

“Trust in the Lord is choosing not to trust in other things,” says Columbus, Ohio preacher David Reid. “When Ephesians 2:9 ends with ‘lest any man should boast,’ what that's telling you is the Word's designed to take every thing you could possibly claim; it is giving up reliance on anything other than Christ."

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“The whole issue behind it all is that you learn to trust Him because, when you learn that He’s all you’ve really got, then He’s all you can really trust," says Richard Jordan. "And when He’s all you’ve really got to trust, you’ll find out He’s all you really need. And when you realize He’s all you really need, you’ll learn a healthy distrust of yourself: ‘It’s not I but Christ.’ It’s in the excellency of the power of God’s Word that works in you and teaches you the truth of it. Otherwise, you don’t know what the purpose of it is!"

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As a teen­ag­er in Dover, England, Louisa Stead (1850-1917), author of the great old hymn, 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, was said to have "felt called to be a mis­sion­a­ry." She emigrated to Am­er­i­ca at age 21, living in Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio.

"She at­tend­ed a camp meet­ing in Ur­ba­na, Ohio, where she felt the call to be a mis­sion­ary ev­en strong­er.  However, due to her frail health, she was un­a­ble to go to China and serve. So in 1875, decided to settle down and have a family instead," says an online biography.

She married William Stead in 1875 and they had a daughter, Lily. Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck describes this major tragedy to soon hit the young family:

“When the child was four years of age, the family decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York. While eating their picnic lunch, they suddenly heard cries of help and spotted a drowning boy in the sea. Mr. Stead charged into the water. As often happens, however, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under water with him, and both drowned before the terrified eyes of wife and daughter. Out of her ‘why?’ struggle with God during the ensuing days glowed these meaningful words from the soul of Louisa Stead."

From another biography: "Without her husband, Louisa and her daughter became destitute. Around 1880, she emigrated to Cape Colony, South Af­ri­ca, where she finally served as a mis­sion­a­ry for 15 years. There she ­mar­ried a Ro­bert Wode­house, but her health declined and she returned to Am­er­i­ca in 1895 to re­co­ver. When she had, she returned to the mis­sion field in southern Rho­de­sia in 1901 with her husband, who has pastored a Methodist congregation. There, her daugh­ter Li­ly was mar­ried and be­came a mis­sion­a­ry herself, following in her mother’s footsteps." 

Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, "Thus says the Lord!"

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
'Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.