When Trusting Feels Impossible

Thank you so much for subscribing to Inner healing Ministries newsletter and blog post! We appreciate so much that you have chosen to partner with us and we pray that you are blessed with the content shared here. May you encounter the Lord's healing presence in every part of your heart today!

When Trusting Feels Impossible

Life is full of twists, turns, and upside-down moments. Unpredictable situations. Failures. Disappointments. Shock & Awe. Betrayal. Offense. Surprise outcomes. Abandonment. Rejection. Judgement. Devastation. Loss. Questions. ” How could this happen?” or “How did this happen to ME?”

Life. Not just “Life”, but “Life on this side of eternity” comes with so many mixed events that at times you may find yourself at a loss and not knowing how to move forward. Many times we are left wondering “How can I ever trust again?”, and even more devastating and painful comes the question, “How do I trust God again?”

Here we are in January. 2026.  The start of a brand new year!  Many of us want to start out the New Year fresh and look forward in anticipation of a brand new year filled with new beginnings and new adventures, but on the other side of the coin sits many of life’s previous heartaches and disappointments, which leaves us wondering how do I move forward into the “New”, with the other junk lurking in the background or what feels like so closely following behind in the rear view mirror.  What do we do with the “stuff” that seems to have caused us to be stuck in broken feelings and expectations.  The parts of our heart that feel let down. The pieces that feel broken and we have no idea how to put them back into place so we can move into the “New” without it being tainted by the “Old”?

Let’s talk about Trust.  What even is it to fully trust? What makes trusting so hard?  Overcoming and moving forward almost always hinges on our level of trust. The definition of trust is this:  “To believe in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of.”  Losing trust in a person is almost inevitable since people are fallible. People make mistakes. People unknowingly and knowingly hurt us. People fail. Even the people we trust the most.  And those are the hardest to overcome.  But when we feel the trust we have in God is broken, that brings a whole different level of pain and uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and loss.  It’s a lot easier to accept a person failing us than a loving, all-powerful God that rules and reigns over the universe and all eternity. That’s a toughie. What do we do with that?  Where do we turn?  How do we manage the loss, grief, and emotions that come with that.  Let me introduce you to Asaph.

While walking through the grief and loss of our daughter Morgan two short years ago, one of the Psalms resonated so deeply with me. Psalm 77 is where the rubber meets the road. Talk about laying it all out there before the Lord and being “real” with God!  Asaph was one of the prominent leaders of music in ancient Israel, serving during the time of King David and Solomon.  Asaph expresses deep anguish and seeks understanding during a time of immense distress. He laments before the Lord, bringing all his raw and real thoughts and emotions to God, and he doesn’t hold back. “I sought the Lord in my day of trouble. I refused to be comforted. I think of God, I groan, I meditate, my spirit becomes weak, I am troubled and cannot speak. Will the Lord reject forever and never again show favor? Has his faithful love ceased forever? I am grieved that the right hand of the most high has changed.”  Can you relate?  I know I could. What I love is that he came to God and didn’t hide his struggle. The wrestling match that was going on in his heart was real, and he didn’t stay silent about it. He didn’t push it down deep and try to ignore it. He didn’t try to smooth it over or sugar coat the deep pain he was experiencing. And guess what friend? We shouldn’t either. Here’s the thing.

God sees you, and he already knows every emotion, every thought, every doubt, every fear, every worry, every raw feeling you are experiencing. He already knows. And He’s big enough to handle everything we bring Him.  He can take it.  Our part is to be brave enough to bring it before Him.  Sometimes I’ve experienced great relief in just being real, and acknowledging out loud the stuff I’ve been holding and trying to carry alone.  

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”  He invites us to come. Come to Him. He sees the pain and hurt and disappointment and He says, “Come to me.”  As my daughter Morgan walked out her cancer journey, she would always say “God can only work with what we give Him.” Wise words for a 20 year old. Simple but true.  He is always willing to meet us where we’re at, but He can only work with what we are willing to bring before Him.  If we keep it all to ourselves, rehearsing over and over the bad things that happened or were spoken, the losses and disappointments, and try to carry them alone, we will only find ourselves worn out, exhausted, and unable to take the next step forward in our life journey.  Don’t worry, the enemy loves that and wants us to stay stuck.  John 10:10 says, "The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have Life and have it abundantly!”  In our deepest hurt, Jesus is there waiting for us to “Come” so that we can be restored, renewed, and made whole again with new life.  So, how do we get there?  

Step 1.  Be brave enough to bring all your hurt to God. Lay it all out there. Be real. Cry, yell, write it out,  whatever it takes. If many prominent people in the bible, like Asaph, David and others did that, we should too.

Step 2. Invite the Lord into the pain.  The enemy is so crafty. He loves to use our pain against us and sneak lies into our thoughts in order to keep us bound up and held captive by our strong but real emotions, so he takes advantage of them and speaks lies to keep us trapped.  But Jesus is Truth.  Inviting Jesus into our emotions and pain is like turning on a big, bright flashlight to shine in the darkness where we can’t see the full scope of what’s happening around us. Sometimes, we have to do it by faith, because in the midst of pain we usually don’t “feel” like it. But friend, it’s worth it. Peace is worth it. Freedom is worth it.  Sitting with him and asking questions is fully welcomed by Jesus. He wants to come and be with you. Sometimes the answers don’t make sense. And sometimes they aren’t what we want,  but His love is always perfect towards you. It’s unfailing and His heart longs to connect with yours.

Step 3. Back to Asaph. In verse 11 of Psalm 77 is where things shift. “I will remember the Lord’s works; yes I will remember your ancient wonders.  I will REFLECT ON ALL YOU HAVE DONE and meditate on your actions.”  After Asaph laid out all his emotions, despair, doubts, concerns, he deliberately shifts his eyes from his mountain of grief to the faithfulness of God’s character by REFLECTING or REMEMBERING all the things God did for him in the past. Even despite the hardship and trials, he chose to LOOK at how God had blessed Him, took care of him, lead him, protected him, provided for him, and all the ways God had shown His love to him in the past. It’s super easy to focus on the mountain of grief, and neglect to remember the blessings. Asaph chose to find what felt like the hidden gems of God’s goodness and faithfulness after he unloaded the heaviness of what he had been carrying. We too get to CHOOSE.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”  Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  THAT is the character of our God. Out of His unfailing love, he never ever leaves us. He comes alongside us and binds up our wounds. He mends our broken hearts.  But we must remember.  Choose to look back and see all He has done in your life. How he has been with you. And if you struggle to see it, ask Him to help you remember. Ask Him to show you, and wait on Him. Let Him take you on the journey.

Step 4. Release.  Let go. All of the pain, disappointment, hurt and grief will only be stumbling blocks to moving into “The new” unless they are released to Jesus.  He stands right there before you with His arms outstretched towards you and just waits for you to release it all to Him. By faith, we can say “Jesus, I don’t want to hold on to these feelings anymore.  They only weigh me down and keep me stuck. I don’t want them any longer. I want to walk in freedom, peace, and the underlying joy of security in trusting you again. I want LIFE. I surrender and release to you all of it. It’s too big for me to lug around, and it only obscures my view of you. I invite you to come and mend my heart back together. Fill all the broken spaces with your unfailing love that is perfect and casts out all fear and pain. In exchange, I receive divine strength that only comes from you. I receive your love, and by faith I choose to trust you.  Even when it doesn’t all make sense and I don’t see the full picture, I know your character and that you want to prosper me and give me hope and a future just as it says in Jeremiah 29:11.  May your Word be a lamp unto my feet as I walk out this new year. May you surround me with your presence and peace as I trust in you.   May what the enemy has meant for evil prove to be used to grow me and strengthen me and give me a testimony to share as you transform me more and more into your likeness. May your light shine so brightly in and through me that darkness would be expelled and your light would bring fresh perspective and revelation of your goodness and unconditional love that wraps around me day and night. And when I’ve done all these things, I will stand.  I will cling to you as you cling to me, and I will abide in you, and drink deeply from the well of truth that you provide daily in your word. And may my mustard size faith grow in deeper ways as I place all things into your hands, resting and trusting fully in my good Father who sees and knows the depths of my heart and applies the soothing oil of healing to it, making all things new.

New. Fresh. Restored. Renewed. Trusting once again. Peace. Faith. Growing. Healing. Stepping into the new year like that sets us up for all the new things He has prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)  Not alone. But in His strength. His love. His truth. New.

Isaiah 43:19

See, I am doing a new thing!

    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

    and streams in the wasteland.