READ: GENESIS 18:1-15; 21:1-3; HEBREWS 11:11

Have you ever trusted a friend and then found out they were not trustworthy? Maybe you confided in them, spilling your guts about something personal. And, even though your friend promised to keep it to themselves, they didn’t. Or maybe you’ve been an untrustworthy friend to someone else.

When someone has broken the trust of another, it’s a serious problem. It can damage and even destroy relationships. Some people never get over the hurt broken trust has brought them.

Another lamentable consequence of broken trust is that we tend to view our relationship with God like we view our relationships with friends and family members who have mistreated us. Because people have broken our trust—and we’ve broken theirs—we think, Maybe God is the same way.

In Genesis 18, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would become parents, but Sarah laughed when she heard this. After all, Sarah was ninety, and Abraham was one hundred. Perhaps Sarah thought He meant well, but He would probably turn out to be like some of her friends, who just wanted to comfort her or say the right thing but ultimately weren’t reliable.

Yet, in verse 14, God makes it clear He keeps His promises: “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

A year later, guess who had a son?

We live in a broken world where people let us down, but thankfully, we can learn to separate how people sometimes act from how God always acts. God’s promises may seem too good to be true, but 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that all His promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Even His promise to create life from Sarah’s dead womb points forward to His promise to raise Jesus from the dead—and then to raise all His people from the dead when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can be in relationship with God. And as we get to know Jesus, we find that God is always trustworthy, and we can count on Him. • Susan Grant

• Why is trust so important in relationships?

• In what ways have people broken your trust? How have you broken others’ trust? Consider taking some time to bring these things to Jesus. In His trustworthy love, we find healing and wholeness.

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

READ: GENESIS 18:1-15; 21:1-3; HEBREWS 11:11

Have you ever trusted a friend and then found out they were not trustworthy? Maybe you confided in them, spilling your guts about something personal. And, even though your friend promised to keep it to themselves, they didn’t. Or maybe you’ve been an untrustworthy friend to someone else.

When someone has broken the trust of another, it’s a serious problem. It can damage and even destroy relationships. Some people never get over the hurt broken trust has brought them.

Another lamentable consequence of broken trust is that we tend to view our relationship with God like we view our relationships with friends and family members who have mistreated us. Because people have broken our trust—and we’ve broken theirs—we think, Maybe God is the same way.

In Genesis 18, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would become parents, but Sarah laughed when she heard this. After all, Sarah was ninety, and Abraham was one hundred. Perhaps Sarah thought He meant well, but He would probably turn out to be like some of her friends, who just wanted to comfort her or say the right thing but ultimately weren’t reliable.

Yet, in verse 14, God makes it clear He keeps His promises: “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

A year later, guess who had a son?

We live in a broken world where people let us down, but thankfully, we can learn to separate how people sometimes act from how God always acts. God’s promises may seem too good to be true, but 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that all His promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Even His promise to create life from Sarah’s dead womb points forward to His promise to raise Jesus from the dead—and then to raise all His people from the dead when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can be in relationship with God. And as we get to know Jesus, we find that God is always trustworthy, and we can count on Him. • Susan Grant

• Why is trust so important in relationships?

• In what ways have people broken your trust? How have you broken others’ trust? Consider taking some time to bring these things to Jesus. In His trustworthy love, we find healing and wholeness.

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

READ: MATTHEW 6:8; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7; 1 PETER 5:7

The other day, I was so frustrated. I had misplaced three things that were important to me and my family. One was my bank card. I always put it back in my purse, but for some reason it wasn’t in there, and neither was my paycheck, which I hadn’t taken out since I got it. Finally, the last thing was my earbuds. I know, I know—they aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things, but I start most mornings with a walk while listening to my favorite music, and these earbuds were a gift, so losing them had some emotional weight too. I hadn’t been robbed, so I knew these three things were around my house... somewhere.

After a few days, I was ready to give up. It was early morning; I was about to miss another walk. Finally, I remembered God cares about what I care about…but I hesitated. What I cared about, especially my earbuds, weren’t important to the rest of the world. However, I took it to God and let Him know how minor I knew these things were before I asked for His help to find them.

Within five minutes, I found my earbuds! I then had a peaceful walk that boosted my day. After walking, I had an idea where my check might be. Remembering my purse had fallen once, I realized it was possible that it fell out. I found my check hidden under something on the floor! I checked my jacket pockets for my bank card and found it immediately.

After I gave my small problems to God, He turned things around within a few hours. He always wants us to ask Him for help. We might think our lives are miniscule compared to the things He must be dealing with right now, but in truth, God cares for every little thing we care about—because He cares for us. • Jordyn Johnson

• Can you think of a time you asked God for help with something? What happened?

• Why do you think we often try to fix our problems on our own before going to God? Consider taking some time to talk to God about whatever you need today, even if it seems small.

• As Christians, we will experience times when we ask God to help us in a particular way, but He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we hoped. Why can we still rest knowing that God loves us and will provide for us? How does Jesus give us this assurance? (If you want to dig deeper, read Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:28-39; Philippians 4:11-13; Revelation 21:1-5)

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)