Rebuilding A Marriage Better Than Newናሙና

I love that God gives us earthly relationships to bring us joy, comfort and companionship. I could not be more thankful for this. Yet sometimes relationships don’t go as planned. Trust is often broken, and when we lose trust in someone, it rocks us. We literally feel like we’ve lost our footing and have no idea where the next step is. Especially when it’s someone close to us.

We will all break someone’s trust at some point. Whether it is a “little white lie,” or a betrayal like infidelity, trust can be restored. Here are three helpful ways to help in restoring trust:

Embrace mutual brokenness. The defensiveness that comes from pointing the finger has more to do with the person pointing than with the person being pointed at. It illustrates the pointer’s unwillingness to address his or her own issues. When we embrace mutual brokenness, we embrace this truth: we all need God’s grace. Acceptance of our mutual brokenness means we are profoundly aware of our own depravity.

Remain patient in healing. Healing does not happen overnight, so the path to rebuilding trust requires a willingness to wait and endure the discomfort of moving forward without guarantees. My husband says that if someone, who has broken the trust of their spouse through betrayal, isn’t willing to spend the rest of their days earning trust back without defensiveness, then they lack perspective of what they deserve in light of the opportunity they have been given. 

Walk in the Holy Spirit. Walking in the Holy Spirit, instead of our own power, is the only way lasting healing will emerge. We walk in the Holy Spirit by strengthening it. How do we do this? We feed it. When we feed the spirit, the flesh will starve. If we nurture our spirit within, we will have an awareness of God’s leading. Before we make choices in life, we must ask, “Is this going to propel me closer to God or further away from Him?”

While God wants us to be trustworthy people and have people in our lives whom we can trust, only God can be absolutely trusted. He will never fail us, leave us or forsake us. He comforts completely and guides perfectly. Trust Him.

Food for thought: Is it difficult or easy for you to trust God? Why? Do you find it easier to place your trust in a person? Why?