Trust Is a Four Letter Word…?

Photo by genvessel.

A popular song says, “Love hurts, love wounds.” But to truly love someone you must first trust them. To me, a better lyric would say, “Trust hurts, trust wounds.”

Trust is not an easy issue to deal with. When dealing with trust, people usually lean toward one of two extremes. On one end, there are those who shut themselves off and refuse to trust anyone. On the other, are those who trust too easily. Personally, I tend to lean toward the latter option. Most times it isn’t a bad thing. I make friends easily and can grow close in relationships quicker as a result. But there have been times where this has caused me much pain.

Relationships are built on trust. A relationship not founded on equal trust can be detrimental. But do we even know what trust is? It is defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”  So, when we trust, we are placing our confidence in someone, and by doing this we can place unrealistic expectations on them. We tend to never expect them to fail us, hurt us, disappoint us, leave us… None of which are realistic. We are human. We are prone to failure. We will hurt each other. We will let each other down at times. And eventually, in one way or another, we will leave.

So what do we do when our trust, our confidence, is broken? This is a tough question to answer. Some people lash out in anger. Some retaliate. Some cry. Everybody handles situations differently. I tend to think about situations too much, leading me to hurt worse and for longer periods of time.

There is only one encouragement I can give to those who have, or are still, experiencing hurt: JESUS. To some, this may sound cliche and cheesy, but He is the only person who will NEVER let you down. When we are at our darkest places, when we are hurting, when we are the cause of another’s hurt, He is consistent. His love is unfailing, never ending, and unconditional. Did you catch the last one? Unconditional. That means nothing we can do will ever take His love away. It will always be there. Waiting for us.

We live in an imperfect world. We are imperfect people. We will make mistakes and we will hurt each other. But Jesus is the only perfect person that has walked, or ever will walk, this earth. So, the next time you’re hurting, place your trust in the only One who will never break it, the One who will never let you down. Place your trust in the One who will never leave you, nor forsake you…even in your darkest.

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:4