Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks.

“Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.” — thus spoke Isaac Watts, the poet and theologian, whose hymns once filled the churches of England with light and whose words still echo with quiet truth. In this simple sentence lies one of the oldest and deepest challenges of the human soul. For to trust is to surrender control, to walk not by sight but by faith — and this, as Watts knew, is not an easy road. His words speak not of blind belief, but of the spiritual courage required to open one’s heart in a world full of uncertainty, betrayal, and fear.

Isaac Watts lived in an age of doubt and struggle — an age when faith was both questioned and clung to with fierce devotion. Known as the “Father of English Hymnody,” he wrote hundreds of hymns that carried divine truths into the hearts of common men and women. In his time, as now, people wrestled with disappointment, with the fragility of promises, with the unreliability of men and nations. To learn to trust, Watts observed, is not an act of ignorance, but an act of bravery — a daily decision to believe in goodness, in truth, in divine providence, even when the evidence of life seems to argue otherwise.

The task of trust is difficult because it demands vulnerability. To trust is to open oneself — to risk pain, to risk loss, to let go of the illusion of control. Many build walls to protect themselves, but those same walls also imprison the heart. Watts understood that true trust, especially trust in God, cannot coexist with fear. It must be learned, refined through trial, and purified through disappointment. It is not given to us at birth — it is learned, as he says, often through the very moments that test it most.

The ancients knew this well. Consider the story of Abraham, who, when called by God to leave his homeland for a place unseen, obeyed without question. Later, when asked to sacrifice his own son — the child of promise — he trusted still, though his heart broke under the weight of the command. His trust was not born of ease, but of surrender. And in that surrender, he found a faith that became the cornerstone of nations. So too, every soul that learns to trust must walk through uncertainty; for only in darkness can one learn to follow the light.

In our own time, the challenge remains the same. The world teaches suspicion — “trust no one,” it whispers, “for all may deceive.” Yet without trust, there can be no peace, no love, no unity. The one who cannot trust cannot truly live, for life itself requires faith: the farmer trusts the rain, the sailor trusts the wind, the parent trusts that their child will one day understand. And though men fail and circumstances shift, the wise learn, as Watts did, to place their deepest trust not in the frailty of humanity, but in the divine order that governs all things.

Watts’ words also teach that trust is a process, not a moment. It grows like a tree, watered by patience and experience. Often, trust must be relearned after it has been broken — and that is the hardest task of all. To trust again after betrayal is the work of the courageous heart. It is easy to close the door after pain, but to open it once more — that is the triumph of the soul. The one who learns to trust again does not do so out of naivety, but out of strength, for they have seen the storm and chosen still to believe in the sunrise.

Therefore, my children, take this teaching to heart: learning to trust is not weakness, but wisdom. It is not blindness, but vision. Trust first in God, for His wisdom sees beyond what human eyes can know. Then, learn to trust yourself — your instincts, your purpose, your capacity for good. Finally, extend trust to others, not foolishly, but generously, knowing that love cannot live without it. For though trust may wound, it also heals; though it risks disappointment, it births peace.

In the end, Isaac Watts reminds us that the most difficult lessons are often the most sacred. To learn trust is to walk the path of faith — slow, uncertain, yet filled with grace. When you feel afraid, remember that even in the darkest hour, there is a hand that guides, a purpose that endures. Trust in that unseen strength, and your life will not be ruled by fear, but carried by faith. For though trust is hard to learn, it is the very foundation of love, and love, once learned, is the highest wisdom of all.