Our ultimate extension of trust – the unfailing kind of trust – should only be placed on God, not on any human, no matter how dear that person may be to us. Even among the most trustworthy of people, no one can wear the badge of an unfailing trust because any one of us can fail another person at any time.

Right after Jesus violently cleared out the Temple of the money changers, the Jewish religious leaders were upset with Him. After the back-and-forth exchange with His inquisitors, Scripture reveals this about the Lord,
“Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart” (vs. 24-25). “Each person’s heart” includes all of us.

When people understand this about humanity, they will live in an honest and transparent relationship where failure will surely occur at some level. Failure in a relationship is where our trust in God is revealed, especially when our distrust has created division.

It’s in those moments when we choose to reembrace and forgive the offending party that the depth of our love will be revealed. This only happens when our trust has been placed in Jesus for a resolution, not in another person to live a perfect life.

Only Jesus, the trustworthy One, has the power and ability to lead us to a place of restoration. If anyone is willing to follow the Lord and forgive and move past the pain of someone else’s failure, a restoration and hope-filled future is always possible. This is possible even after we have discovered unexpected human failings in the other person that are present in each person’s heart.