When Trust Grows Unshakable

When Trust Grows Unshakable

There’s a kind of faith that only grows in the wind.

You can’t learn it from a book or a sermon — only through the slow, trembling steps of trust when everything familiar disappears.

I remember standing in the half-empty camper/house we had just sold, the sound of tape on cardboard boxes echoing off bare walls. My construction tools — the ones that had paid our bills and shaped our life — were gone. We’d sold nearly everything. Our family had driven back and forth across the United States, and now we were getting ready to board a plane that would take us across the world to start a new life.

It should’ve felt like adventure. It mostly felt like freefall.

The Stretch of Trust

There’s something sacred about the moment when you realize you can’t make your own plans work anymore. It’s not weakness — it’s invitation.

Scripture says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)

That word trust is easy to quote but hard to live. It means to lean your full weight on something — or Someone — and believe He will hold.

When I left my job, I thought I was leaning on God. But the truth is, I still wanted to see how He’d catch me. I wanted the reassurance of a safety net. Instead, God gave me a season of waiting, uncertainty, and dependence.

Looking back now, I see that’s where trust began to grow.

Trust Is Born in the Unknown

Trust isn’t built when everything makes sense. It’s born in the moments when nothing does.

The Bible reminds us that “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19). That means His promises don’t shift with our circumstances. Yet, in the thick of fear, we often treat His Word like a theory rather than a lifeline.

I’ve met many believers who love the Lord but struggle to rest in His trustworthiness. We say God is faithful, but we live as though He might change His mind. The reason, I think, is that we’ve all been disappointed — by people, plans, or even our own failures. Once trust has been broken in life, it becomes hard to offer it again, even to God.

That’s why faith is never automatic. It must be practiced — one small step at a time.

Step by Step, Not Leap by Leap

When God calls us to trust Him, He rarely gives us the whole map.

In Scripture, Abraham left his homeland “not knowing whither he went.” Peter stepped out of the boat, not knowing if his feet would hold. In both cases, trust looked like movement without full understanding.

We often picture faith as a dramatic leap, but it’s usually a daily step.

Sometimes that step is as small as opening the Bible again when your heart feels dry. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Word of God is where our faith is fed.

When the Israelites faced the Red Sea, God didn’t part the waters until they stepped forward. The way didn’t open before the first step — it opened because of it.

Every time we obey God in the small things, trust grows roots.

Trust Is Strengthened by Remembering

When fear presses in, memory is our best defense.

David wrote, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped” (Psalm 28:7). That wasn’t theory for David — it was testimony. He remembered lions and bears and giants, and each memory reminded him: God has never failed me yet.

In my own life, I wish I would have kept a journal of God’s faithfulness. To write down the times He provided what we needed — the visa that came through at the last hour, the support that arrived when funds ran out, the friend who showed up with encouragement when I was ready to give up.

These aren’t coincidences. They’re fingerprints of grace.

If you’re struggling to trust, start by remembering. God’s past faithfulness is the best predictor of His future provision.

Trust Grows When We Fall and Rise Again

Faith doesn’t mean we never stumble. It means we keep getting back up.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”

There were days overseas when I wondered if we’d made a terrible mistake. The language was hard, the finances thin, and the loneliness sharp. I questioned whether I had heard God correctly at all.

But the Lord kept teaching me: the same faith that carried you across the ocean will carry you through this day.

Each time I failed, His grace met me. Each time I doubted, His Word steadied me.

God doesn’t shame us for our weak faith — He strengthens it. Like a father teaching a child to walk, He rejoices more in our next step than He frowns at our last fall.

Trust Looks Away from Ourselves

The turning point in trust comes when our eyes finally shift from what’s uncertain to Who is unchanging.

Hebrews 12:2 calls Jesus “the author and finisher of our faith.” Peter learned this the hard way — he walked on water until he started watching the waves.

Our generation is drowning in distractions: news cycles, fears, politics, finances, health. We scroll ourselves into panic. The only way to stand firm is to fix our eyes on the Lord Himself.

Isaiah 26:3–4 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Peace doesn’t come from predicting outcomes but from resting in God’s character.

We don’t need to understand everything. We just need to trust the One who does.

The God Who Cannot Lie

The more we walk with God, the more we realize something astonishing — His trustworthiness is not just a choice He makes; it’s who He is.

Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 echoes that truth. If God could lie, He wouldn’t be God. Every word He’s ever spoken is anchored in His unchanging nature.

That means your faith is not fragile if it’s built on Him. It might shake, but He won’t.

When we were preparing to move overseas, I had moments of deep doubt — not because I thought God would fail, but because I feared I might. But that’s where grace met me again. God doesn’t call us because we’re strong. He calls us to reveal His strength through our weakness.

He is the Rock, and His work is perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Becoming Unshaken

Over time, something happens in the believer who keeps trusting.

At first, faith is a trembling step. Then it becomes a steady walk. Eventually, through seasons of storms and quiet, trust matures into a calm assurance — a deep knowing that no matter what comes, God is still God.

This isn’t arrogance; it’s intimacy. You’ve walked with Him long enough to know His voice, seen enough of His hand to recognize His ways, and lived enough of His faithfulness to know that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

That’s the goal of faith: not to become fearless, but to become unshaken.

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.”

When your faith feels small, pour it out. When your heart feels fragile, pour it out. When the road feels too long, pour it out.

He will meet you there — and grow your trust until it stands firm.

Living the Lesson

So how do we practice trust in real life?

1. Start in the Word. Faith grows where Scripture lives. Open it, read it aloud, let its truth settle into your spirit.

2. Take the next step. Don’t wait for perfect understanding. Obey what you already know God has said.

3. Remember His faithfulness. Keep a record of answered prayers and unseen mercies.

4. Refuse to look away. Keep your eyes on the Lord, not the waves.

5. Rise when you fall. Every failure is a classroom for deeper trust.

The road of faith is not smooth, but it’s sure. And the One who walks beside us is faithful to the end.

A Closing Word

When I think back to those early days — packing boxes, saying goodbye, crossing oceans — I realize I was never actually risking anything. The same God who called us was already waiting on the other side.

And He’s waiting for you, too.

Whatever step of trust you face — a job loss, a move, a diagnosis, a call to serve — He is trustworthy.

Lean hard on Him. Take the step. Remember His promises.

One day, you’ll look back and realize your faith has grown unshakable — not because life got easier, but because you learned to rest in the God who never changes.