Have life's disappointments made it harder to trust God? In today's Crosswalk Devotional, we explore Matthew 13:20-21 and Jesus' parable of the rocky soil, revealing how hardship can quietly harden our hearts if we're not careful. Even when suffering, betrayal, or unanswered prayers shake our faith, God invites us to return to Him and rediscover the trust that trials may have stolen.

Difficult seasons can leave us questioning God's goodness, but Scripture reminds us that He is never the author of evil. He is the Redeemer who works through every circumstance for our good and His glory. No matter how rocky your heart may feel today, God's grace can soften it again, allowing hope, faith, and new spiritual growth to take root.

Highlights:

• Discover what Jesus teaches about rocky soil and a heart that struggles to trust during hardship.
• Learn how disappointment can quietly harden our hearts if we don't bring our pain to God.
• Be reminded that God is never the source of evil but the Redeemer who brings good from brokenness.
• Find encouragement that trust is restored by remembering God's unchanging character and faithfulness.
• Understand why bringing your doubts honestly before God is the first step toward renewed faith.
• Rest in the hope that your story isn't finished—God is still writing it.

Join the Conversation

Has a difficult season ever challenged your trust in God? What has helped you rediscover His goodness and faithfulness when life didn't go as planned? We'd love to hear your story in the comments.

Continue the conversation with the Crosswalk community here: https://forums.crosswalk.com/

Do you want to listen ad-free?

When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! 

Sign Up Today!

Full Transcript Below:

How to Restore Trust When You've Lost It
By Kelly Balarie

Bible Reading:
“As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy; Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away.” –  Matt. 13:20-21 AMPC

Have you ever tried to dig a shovel into rocky soil? It’s torture.

Bam! Bam! It’s nearly impossible. To hit rock is to be blocked.

One can’t easily plant beautiful flowers when rocky soil blocks the ability to plant new life. The same goes for us when we are on rocky soil.

Jesus said, “As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy; Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away.” (Matt. 13:20-21 AMPC)

We become rocky soil when what is hard and tough in life turns us hard and tough in heart. To be hardened to God because of trials and troubles means the soil of our hearts is rocky. Beautiful things can’t be as easily planted within us. 

This is a problem – for me, I considered, as I read this verse. You see, after reading these words of Jesus, I could now see that the trials and tribulations in my life were causing me to stumble. Because I was beginning to “distrust and desert Him Whom (I) ought to trust and obey.” 

Wow.

God surely knows, I don’t want to fall away. But, after all that I had gone through… all I endured… all I had to endure in relationships… quietly, distrust was stealing my trust – and I knew it.

Maybe I’m not alone in this. Maybe you, too, have had shockers in life… shock and awe when you got a medical diagnosis you didn’t expect. Shock when a friend turned to a foe. Shock when a dream suddenly ended. Shock when a child turns away from you.

It is easy to lose trust after experiencing the shock of a carpet pulled out from under us. However, we are wise to remember: God is not the orchestrator of evil; He is the one who is for us. God is the one working all things together for good. Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us. 

I once heard a pastor say, “Devil, bad. God, good.”

He’s right. God is good. God is just. God works all things together for good as we love Him and are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28). God is Redeemer. God is hope. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). 

God uses even what is hard and bad for good.

I can’t give up on God. And, neither can you. I can’t afford to spend even a day away from Him.

Trust returns when we remember that God is good. When we believe there is hope. When we repent of unbelief and decide to break up with it. When we remember, He can do the miraculous. When we ponder how God used Jesus and where Jesus sits now, after hardship.

God is not what happened to us; God is good. 

Intersecting Faith & Life:

What, in life, has happened to you that has made you lose trust? How have you subtly moved away from God? Can you let your pain go into His hands? Your need – to know? Your desire to have everything perfect today?  God is the Author and the Perfector; your story is not done yet. 

This devotional is an invitation for you – to come back to Him.