Learning How To Trust . . . Again
By Dr. Ed Delph and Alan & Pauly Heller

 “Our lives will rise to the level of that in which we place our trust.”

 Do you ever wonder why increasing numbers of people seem less willing to commit to just about everything? More and more couples struggle to remain married.  Many experience problems coping with even small issues, and some folks are outraged at just about everything! Why do people have such a hard time trusting?

      The largest single issue in the world today is trust. Many people are what I call “trust impaired.” They struggle with what and whom to trust. Ask any pastor, businessman, teacher, or elected official, and their response will be the same. It’s getting as hard to find a trustworthy person as to find one who will trust you.

      Having pastored in large churches for many years, I’ve noticed that people struggling with major issues frequently share a similar root cause. They suffer from the lingering effects of harmful shaping events in their lives that have impaired their ability to trust. They don’t trust me, they don’t trust God, they don’t trust the opposite sex—they don’t seem capable of trusting anyone. That leaves them to trusting only in themselves, which is a recipe for failure. They’re stuck . . . not sick . . . stuck.

      I decided to address this issue by presenting a sermon series called “Learning How To Trust . . . Again. ” The response was incredible. In most venues where I spoke on this subject, if there was an altar call, 90 percent of the people in the church would come forward. The response was the same whether in North or South America, Europe, Asia, Africa or Australasia. The topic simply hit a nerve with everyday people. They could identify the root of their own problems as a lack of trust and begin to deal with it. My ministry partners were able to use the principles from this message to start to help people get unstuck. That, to me, is what ministry is all about.  

     In my new book Learning How to Trust . . . Again , co-authored with the seasoned biblical-counseling and writing team of Alan and Pauly Heller, we present what we call “The Anti-Trust Strategy.” This revelation explains the process through which the enemy of your soul takes you to get you to the point where you trust in nothing and no one. The result? You can’t trust in God—which is exactly where the enemy wants you. (In the book, we call him “the Liar.”) If you can’t trust in God, you can have no meaningful relationship with God. After all, trust is the currency of all relationships, both spiritual and natural.

      Consider this: If your ability to trust is impaired, how can you trust in God? If you can’t trust in God, you won’t have faith in God. If you have no faith in God, how can you please God? Do you see the Liar’s strategy? And think of the consequences that being trust-impaired has on relationships with others. Need I go on?

      It’s time for believers to take action. That’s why we wrote Learning How To Trust . . . Again It’s a revelation on the subject of trust that includes action steps to restore damaged trust. We make a case statement for the what’s, why’s and how’s of trust. We discuss what trust is, why it’s crucial for emotional health, and how to learn to trust all over again. We believe trust can be recovered. We believe that people who are trust-impaired today can be trust-repaired tomorrow. In fact, the final two chapters of the book deal with how to trust God again and how to trust others again.

      As I began writing Learning How to Trust . . . Again , I thought of the children’s story “Princess Amanda and the Dragon” by David and Karen Mains. This fable describes how young Amanda finds an illegal dragon egg and foolishly decides to hide the baby dragon that it hatches from “Caretaker,” the Mains’ allegorical Jesus. Eventually the dragon, at first so cute and playful, becomes unmanageable, powerful, and evil. When it threatens her very life, she desperately cries out for Caretaker to kill it, but he tells her she must slay it herself to be free from its hold over her.

       Throughout the book, we build upon the dragon metaphor and include lessons from our lives and the lives of other people (or composites with their names changed) to illustrate our points. Chapter titles include: Can I Ever Trust Again?; Trust or Consequences; Only You Can Prevent Dragon Fires; Help, I Lost My Trust; Judgments and Generalization and Vows, Oh My!; Trust Traps—Who and What Not To Trust; In God We Trust?; If It’s Going To Be, It Starts With Me, and Beginning to Trust In People All Over Again.

      Learning How To Trust . . . Again is endorsed by author and speaker, Gary Smalley, as well as author and President of the Center for Strong Families, John Trent, Ph.D. Other notables, including Al Ells, Dr. Norman Wakefield, Dr. Gary Kinnaman, Bishop George McKinney, and Dr. Iverna Tompkins, heartily endorse the authors and the subject matter of this very timely book. It is truly a book for such a time as this.

      Perfect for self-help reading, counseling, marriage and singles ministry, and business and church curriculum, Learning How To Trust . . . Again speaks to churched and unchurched people alike. Co-authors Alan and Pauly Heller lead the marriage enrichment ministry Walk & Talk. Their Web site is www.walkandtalk.org . Dr. Ed Delph pastors Rising Community Church and is president of NationStrategy, an organization that equips leaders for community transformation. His Web site is www.nationstrategy.com.

      If you’re trust-impaired—and who isn’t—you will like this book because you can relate to this book. Learning How to Trust . . . Again will help you slay the Liar’s dragons and repair your scorched trust. Remember, your life will rise to the level of that in which you place your trust.

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