Broken Trust

"Thus says the LORD:  Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD." - Jeremiah 17:5

This verse seems so harsh and intimidating, doesn't it?  Reading it can even make us feel a little defensive and cause us to wonder, "but aren't we supposed to trust in people and love people?" Yes, of course we are, but the reason God comes off so strongly in His words is because He is trying to look out for us and our hearts.  He knows that when we aren't firmly planted in Him, our hearts, which are always looking for a place to rest in, will always look to be filled by the love of someone else.  And so when we fall in love, we trust blindly.  When we have friendships, we trust blindly and call those people our BFF's.  

How many of you have gotten your hearts broken?  How many of you have lost that best friend who promised to always be there?  How many of you have suffered disappointment when someone fell so short of your expectations and you know you would have never done the same to them?  People let us down, and will continue to let us down because they are human.  You and I are human and have let people down.  But God isn't telling us to never love.  On the contrary, Peter betrayed Jesus during His darkest hour and Jesus forgave Him.  What God wants us to do is to only reserve that type of deep love and trust for Him because He will never disappoint us.  He will never let us down.  We love others because God also loves them, but we must never give another human being the place that only God should have in our hearts.

Today's Prayer:

Lord Jesus, teach me how to love others so I am not hurt when they let me down.  Teach me to only care about Your love and having You in my heart so that I can understand others when they are struggling and fall short of what I expect from them.  In Your Name we pray, amen.