Saturday in the Word | What Grief Does to Trust

For this week’s installment of Saturday in the Word, I want to explore a topic, rather than a verse or passage.

The topic?

Grief.

Grief is more than sorrow. It’s a rupture. Grief is a loss that reshapes not only our hearts, but our view of the world and our trust in it.

Whether we’ve lost a loved one, a relationship, a dream, or even our identity, grief has a way of knocking the wind out of us. It doesn’t just hurt. It confuses. It disorients. And often, it quietly erodes something essential: trust.

Grief Shatters Our Illusion of Safety

When loss strikes, it disrupts the fragile belief that the world is predictable and fair. We go from believing “everything will be okay” to wondering, “Will anything ever feel safe again?”

Grief exposes how little control we truly have. And when the ground beneath us gives way, trust quickly crumbles.

We may ask ourselves:

Can I really count on anyone?

How could this happen?

Where was God in all of this?

These are the voices of broken trust.

Grief Changes Relationships Forever

“Death changes everything,”’Terri said after her sister died unexpectedly. When we navigate seasons of grief, we quickly see people for who they really are. You might be surprised by who stands by you and who avoids you. You might feel hurt by those you expected to lean on. That’s where the rubber meets the road. Trust is permanently fractured.

Sometimes, grief draws unexpected people close. Someone you barely knew might become a source of deep comfort. Even when our trust is wounded it can be transformed into new ways of seeing.

Grief Disorients Self-Trust

Grief changes us. It makes us forgetful, fatigued, irritable, and emotionally raw. We feel like strangers to ourselves.

Why did I say that?

Why can’t I stop crying?

Why can’t I just move on?

When we don’t respond the way we think we “should,” we begin to doubt our own ability to cope. Doubt gives way to shame, further eroding self-trust.

Grief Shakes Our Trust in God

As believers, having our confidence in God challenged is the most painful crack of all.

Why would a loving God allow this loss?

Didn’t I pray hard enough?

Is God even listening?

For some, grief may feel like divine betrayal. It can challenge our theology and stretch our understanding of God’s goodness. And yet, this deep wrestling eventually gives way to a deeper, more honest trust that isn’t based on feelings or outcomes, but on faith tested in the fire.

Grief Builds a Guarded Heart

After a deeply felt loss, it’s completely natural for us to put up walls. We don’t want to hurt like that again. We might start keeping people at a distance. We might avoid joy out of fear it will just be taken from us. We might refuse to trust again; not out of bitterness, but out of self-protection.

And yet…

Grief Also Rebuilds Trust

Time alone doesn’t heal all wounds. But time, reflection, honest conversations, and God’s grace help us rebuild trust:

• In those who prove faithful in small, quiet ways during our difficult season.
• In ourselves as we see healing happen over time.
• In God, as He meets us with His enduring presence.

Psalm 34:18 says,

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Grief shatters us. It can also redefine us. The new us that emerges on the other side of loss is not the same as before. Our trust is more grounded, more humble, and more aware of how precious (and fragile) life really is.

Friend, if you’re grieving today, take heart. The pain you feel may be great, but so is the God who walks with you in it.

You’re not alone.

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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