When Trust Trembles

When Trust Trembles

Understanding the Currency of Connection

Personal reflections by a fellow traveler. Not AA-approved literature. Shared in the spirit of experience, strength, and hope.

Trust is the currency of connection. Without it, relationships go bankrupt. In recovery, I’ve learned that trust is not a luxury—it’s survival. Step Three asks me to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, and that requires trust. Step Four and Five invite me to expose the hidden parts of myself, trusting another human being with my darkest inventory. Every step forward is built on trust—sometimes trembling, often fragile, but always necessary.

The truth is, my past has trained me to grip control like a weapon at the low ready. Broken promises, betrayals, and self-inflicted wounds have taught me not to lean on anyone. So when I try to hand over trust—to God or another person—it shakes in my hands. My instinct is to pull back, to protect myself, to keep the walls high. But isolation can become its own prison, and without trust, the doors will never open.

Trembling trust is still trust. God doesn’t demand perfect confidence, only my willingness. When I offer Him even my shaky, uncertain faith, He proves Himself steady. And when I risk trusting another person, I discover that connection deepens not through perfection, but through honesty. Sometimes that means being let down. Occasionally it means being surprised by integrity. Either way, I grow stronger by stepping out of isolation and into relationships with others.

Trust is not given all at once; it is earned in deposits.  Moments of honesty, promises kept.  In time, the balance grows and the currency I feared to spend becomes the very wealth that sustains me.

There is always risk in rebuilding.  As we work a program of action, it’s important to erect a foundation on granite, not sand. 

Where in my life is trust trembling, and how can I lean on God’s care instead of my own control?