Trust.

Something that comes easy to many, but is a struggle for others.

When I was younger, trust was second nature for me.
I knew my parents would never leave me, my friends would keep my secrets, and that I had nothing to worry about when it came to people not keeping their promises.

I never questioned any of these things.
I had no reason to believe that I had anything to worry about when it came to trust.
I hadn’t been hurt.
I hadn’t been wronged.
My trust hadn’t been broken.

Fast forward a few years, and things started to change.

A family member of mine crossed boundaries that never should have been crossed.
Friends began sharing my secrets.
People who made commitments to me broke them.
And those I thought I could count on left.

Trust is like a thin piece of glass.
Once it’s broken, its really hard to put back together.

When one person hurts us, we expect everyone else to as well.
When someone breaks a promise, we anticipate everyone else we meet is going to do the same.
And when someone we thought we could trust crosses boundaries, well say goodbye to ever being able to see intimacy as a safe thing.

We live in a broken world full of imperfect people.
It’s inevitable that somewhere along the way, someone we thought we could trust is going to fail us. Someone is going to break a promise. Someone is going to leave.

But,

we also live in a world that includes a God who
never fails us
never breaks a promise
never crosses boundaries
is always safe
never causes us to question our trust in Him
and proves time and time again that we can trust Him without hesitation.

On May 28 I wrote,

“God, You are so trustworthy.
I know I can trust You without any hesitation, restraint, fear, or anxiety.
You are someone who will never break my trust.
You will never lie to me, never mis-lead me, never manipulate me, never let me down, and never cross boundaries.
You are someone I don’t have to hide from, keep at a distance, or put walls up for.
You are someone I don’t have to be afraid of or anxious about.
You are someone I don’t have to protect or guard myself from. Someone I don’t have to be suspicious of. Someone I can let in completely without fear. Someone I can trust with my whole heart and whole being and whole life.
You are constant.
You are stability.
You are peace.
You are rest.
You bring peace to my anxious heart, because You are forever constant and stable and trustworthy.
Trusting You is the reason I can persevere.
The reason I can have peace.
The reason I can find rest.
I have never loved anybody as much as I love You, God.”

God knew our hearts needed consistency, stability, and the ability to trust without it ever being broken, and it brings me to tears that He gave us those things in Himself.
He gives us those things in Himself every single day.

While at times it feels like we have to protect ourselves from others for fear of being hurt, we never have to protect ourselves from God.
He will never hurt us.

God has been teaching me that not only can I trust Him, but through trusting Him I can find peace, contentment, safety, rest, and true, genuine joy.

Trusting God is a lot more than just telling Him our secrets and believing He won’t tell anyone else.
Trusting God is believing His intentions are always good.
Trusting God is having faith that His plans, no matter how painful, are for our best.
Trusting God is confidence in not only His ability but also desire to do the impossible.
Trusting God is absolute assurance that He will always keep His promises.
Trusting God is knowing His heart is good, even when things look messy and hard.
Trusting God is being able to go to Him confidently even after we’ve messed up because He says His grace is sufficient.
Trusting God is believing He will do what He said He would smack dab in the middle when nothing looks anything like what He spoke.
Trusting God is being content in uncertainty because we know even when we don’t, God knows and understands.
Trusting God is living in a state of constant surrender because God’s ways are always better.
Trusting God is giving the control over to Him because He always knows how to handle things better than we do.

And trusting God leads to being able to crawl out of the hurt we’ve experienced, heal, forgive, and have the courage to trust again.

God has proven that He is worthy of being trusted without any hesitation.
If the enemy is telling you anything different today, rebuke it, and know that it is the farthest thing from the Truth.
God is trustworthy. Always.