Have you ever struggled with trusting someone you love or like after that person has let you down?

Many of us have experienced this. We might have responded by saying or thinking, “Trust is earned.” A recent situation prompted me to think more about this phrase. I became so intrigued by it that I decided to dig deeper into the word “trust.”

Dictionary.com  partially defines trust as the “reliance on the integrity of a person.” No wonder many of us see trust as something to be earned. It is not easy to have confidence in someone who has betrayed us, misled us, disappointed us or scammed us.

I recently heard a preacher on the radio give an example of trust. Following is a paraphrase of the preacher’s story.

A little girl who was blind was in a burning house. She made her way to the window. She heard firefighters telling her to jump, but the girl would not jump. The fire was inching its way toward her and she was feeling the heat, but she still would not jump, no matter how much the firefighters urged her to do so. Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted, “Sweetheart, jump!” and without hesitation, the girl jumped. The voice was her father’s, the girl heard her father’s voice and she jumped because she knew that she could trust him. God is a Father. He is your Heavenly Father, and when others mislead you, betray you, disappoint you, let you down and scam you, you can trust God.

Proverbs 3:5 states: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Trust is precious for those who have been betrayed by someone they once considered as a person of integrity. In the world that we live in, sooner or later everyone is let down by a friend, a colleague, a family member, etc. The natural response to the betrayal is to stop trusting. But people of faith do not operate in the natural way; we operate in the supernatural way.

Saint Augustine of Hippo puts it very well: “Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to his love and the future to his providence.” Trustworthiness is a rare commodity in the world today, but God is trustworthy in every way.

Life can derail any of us, but God-centered attention keeps each of us from losing our footing. Very often, we tend to surrender before utilizing our great strength, which is our God! Saint Alphonsus Liguori said: “He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.” God is able to change our situations or our views of our situations.

Our greatest purpose is also our greatest strength: faith in God. It is just when we are let down by the people we once trusted that we need God as our compass, to direct us. Each of us can make every day better by having the courage to trust God, who is always trustworthy.

Our ability to trust says something about us as well as the One we trust. God calls us to put our trust in him. Many times we are left with questions about why something happened, but one thing we need never question is God’s trustworthiness.

It is difficult for me to avoid reverting to the idea that “trust is earned,” but I am realizing that the phrase is based on my “feeling,” and not on my faith. Let us rely on God, through faith, to direct as to how to handle the challenge of trusting people who have betrayed us.

People may let us down, but God never fails!

-Ojoma Edeh Herr is a professor of special education at Millersville University. Her memoir, “Ojoma’s Song: Becoming a Woman Nigerian Style,” details her struggles in coming of age in her native Nigeria.