Trust. It’s an ever-expanding concept in the heart of humans, yet it’s as concrete as solid cement in our minds. While our soul longs to live wholeheartedly, fully trusting in other people, we experience trust breaks that breed skepticism and brokenheartedness within us.
A trust break leads to heart hurt and mind re-mapping. Like cement in our minds, mistrust is black and white; it’s wrong or right. What we think about our experience hardens our hearts. A wall forms around it for our protection.
Over and over, repeated trust breaks eventually lead us to a cemented heart and a cynical mind. We deal with the hurt by isolating ourselves from God and people, retaliating instead of forgiving, and in doing so we eliminate in our souls the possibility of ever trusting again. We settle for hurt in exchange for hope. But, at our core, we know there’s better. We do want to trust again.
Our soul desires a life filled with unfailing trust. It’s just that the cost of letting people in begins to rise so high that we don’t think we can afford it. We can’t afford to trust one more time. We can’t afford to love one more time. We can’t afford to fully be alive anymore. Life feels hopeless.
What then can we do? How do we trust others when all we’ve experienced is broken trust?
When our trust gets broken, it’s mostly because it was misplaced in the first place. Often we put our trust in humans and then get offended at God when they hurt us. Trust is in the right place when it’s placed in God. This doesn’t mean we’ll never be disappointed or hurt by people – it just means we already have a solution when we are. He is always working on our behalf. He’s concerned with our cries, healing our heartaches, and guiding us on a path forward.
Jesus already paid it all. Living with un-forgiveness, cycles of cynicism, and withholding love are examples of some of the things we use to control the hurt we feel. We think we are protecting our hearts but actually – we are causing a deeper wound. We don’t have to live with the bondage mistrust brings. We no longer owe what He’s already paid for. We have to stop allowing our experience with people to determine our theology. We have to stop allowing the hardened concrete in our minds to drip into our hearts.
Why? Because it’s hardening that which was meant to be softened. Instead, we need to choose to flip the script on how trust breaks affect us. We have to allow our hearts to resist the offense of mistrust so that the softness of our hearts impacts our minds. We have to let what’s in our hearts get to our heads.
How? God has given us a new heart, one that is soft and made of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). This heart – this is the one we can trust because we can trust the one who gave it to us. We can rely on and trust in Him. He is unfailing even when people fail us. He is unwavering in His trustworthiness no matter what our circumstances may be. Do you have faith to believe in this truth? This is the way to a wholehearted life in a world of mistrust.
The question isn’t: are you allowing your experience with people to determine how much you are willing to trust God and others? It’s, will you wholeheartedly trust God when people break your trust?
There is always hope in Jesus; trust in His unfailing love. Grab this truth, meditate on Psalm 13:5-6, and soon, you’ll be able to trust again, love again, and live with a whole heart again.
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