Broken trust can be very difficult to navigate as a Christian, and this book approaches the subject with empathy and wisdom.

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I requested this title thinking it was more about doubting God. But it’s actually about not trusting people. I know Lysa has experienced too much relational trauma. Her story has been pretty publicized. And I’m not sure you can ever fully heal from what something like what she has experienced. However, I’m not sure she is yet healthy enough to have written a book counseling others on how to trust. I can’t really be the judge of that, but I just wonder about it because I found this book to be highly emotional and disorganized. For a book on such a sensitive topic. I would expect more winsom anecdotes than the painful ones she shares. A few of the anecdotes didn’t seem to fit the context, like the story about going with her friend to a lie detector test. Her thoughts are jumbled and don’t really follow a logical pattern. I almost think she should have just written a memoir. I don’t really have any relationships with major trust issues, so I didn’t find this helpful.. but I’m so glad to see so many others who did!

Lysa is a deep well of wisdom and bravely continues to share her story in new ways. The average person lies 4 times a day. Wow. Therefore, there’s going to be hurt and broken trust. We live in a sinful world. Lysa teaches us how to navigate that beautifully.

This is a well-written and thought provoking dive into how to cope with broken relationships of any kind. It includes chapters on discernment, repairing relationships, control, and trusting God with the future. This is especially good for anyone who has been betrayed by a loved one.

You can trust again.

Family friendly.

Here’s a review for I Wanna Trust You, But I Don’t by Lysa TerKeurst:

A Powerful Guide to Healing and Trust

Lysa TerKeurst has once again delivered a deeply impactful book in I Wanna Trust You, But I Don’t. As someone who has experienced the pain of betrayal and struggled with rebuilding trust, this book spoke directly to my heart. Lysa’s honest, compassionate approach offers hope for healing, all while rooted in her Christian faith.

Her personal stories and biblical insights have not only given me comfort but also practical steps toward reclaiming trust in myself, others, and in God’s plan. This book is a must-read for anyone who has felt the weight of betrayal or relational wounds. It’s an invaluable guide for those looking to experience true restoration and freedom. Highly recommended for anyone seeking healing and learning to trust again.

This book is a must read for anyone who has had trust broken! I love Lysa’s transparency and rawness, yet she always brings it back to God’s Word and how we can trust in the Lord even when nothing makes sense. She gives practical and spiritual application on how to rebuild trust in ways that makes sense and are achievable. I highly recommend this book, and it will be the best resource in your trust journey.

Lysa’s book is fresh air in today’s chaotic world. With her trademark blend of honor, ability and wisdom to cursed tackles trust after it’s been broken. Her words, resonate deeply, offering both comfort and challenge to the reader struggling with trust. What’s this book apart is curse ability to see the aspects through Christ help and scripture basis. Her personal antidotes are both thought-provoking and make spiritual truth, accessible and applicable to every day life, she really has done herself with powerful transformative work. Don’t miss out the opportunity to be inspired encouraged and to walk along with Lisa as she describes how to handle trusting when you don’t want to.

Lysa’s books have always been a help and inspiration to me. I Want to Trust You was no different. I began reading with the idea that this could help me with trust issues I have with other people. Surprisingly, the more I read the more aware I became of trust issues I had with God, I thought I was doing an okay job, but realized there were some major areas I was still holding onto where i wasn’t including God and He wanted me to surrender those. This book is helping me get there.

Rarely do I read an author who is genuine. One who refuses to accept that which cannot be right instead runs it thru the scriptures and prayer for guidance. The lessons and insights are real. Old wrongs surfaced for me as I read. I ran them thru the filters provided and found forgiveness and peace over them. Honestly I did not know how much this brilliant work would impact my life. Thank you Lysa for sharing your journey.

This book is truly outstanding. Lysa meets the reader where they're at and addresses different scenarios, large and small, with trust issues. She tackles trust with others - individuals and organizations, trusting ourselves, and trusting God from a biblical perspective. This book is exactly what I needed to propel into a new season of healing and greater health. For anyone looking to have healthier relationships or grow in trusting others, this book is for you. I highly recommend this book.

"I Want to Trust You But I Don't" by Lysa TerKeurst offers a relatable exploration of the complex emotions surrounding betrayal and trust issues. Drawing from her own experiences, Lysa provides a comforting reminder that we're not alone in our struggles.

The book delves into the various facets of trust, from subtle betrayals to major breaches. Lysa offers practical advice on healing and growth, equipping readers with tools to identify potential red flags in relationships. Her insights, rooted in Biblical principles, provide a spiritual framework for navigating these challenges.

If you've ever grappled with the pain of betrayal or found yourself questioning your ability to trust, this book offers a compassionate and insightful guide. Lysa's relatable storytelling and practical advice make it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to heal and build stronger relationships.

**Note: I received an advanced copy of the book as part of the launch team for I Want To Trust You But I Don’t via NetGalley.

Lysa writes of her struggle with trust after experiencing her almost 30-year marriage ending in divorce. The divorce resulted in lost friends, family, and work-related relationships.
Lysa does an amazing job in explaining the negative effects of emotional abuse and betrayal. She shares real life ways to discern your own areas of weakness, how to assess and understand the behavior of others. This while keeping your eye focused on God and His plan for you.
When we walk through the difficulties of life, many times it causes our trust to waver. This book helps the reader see God’s goodness despite how other people might treat us. She also discusses how our fears lead us to want to control everything in our lives, which can cause more heartache. Lysa then shows the reader how to move forward and build up self confidence.

At the end of each chapter, she has included key thoughts to remember, pertinent Scripture verses to ponder, and reflective questions. Each chapter ends with a short and thoughtful prayer.
Lysa’s writing style is down to earth with every part of the book compelling, keeping the reader hooked. No matter what you are facing today, this book will hold some pearls you can learn from.

Lysa TerKeurst has done it again! Her mastery with writing about trauma and how to overcome has touched my heart and I know it will for others who read this book "I Want to Trust You, but I Don't". Along with examples of her own life, she adds content, tools and applications along with prayer to keep moving forward and not get stuck in the trauma. One of her quotes that spoke to me . . . "We must do the healing work inside us so we can do relational work with others around us."

I tried to explain to someone what I like about Christian author Lysa TerKeurst's books. She solves spiritual struggles with journal and Bible in hand. A master storyteller, Lysa excels at finding new and illustrative ways to explain hard-to-understand truths. She often has questions at the ends of chapters for readers to go from passive-reading to active-learning.

Lysa writes of her struggle with trust after seeing her almost 30-year marriage end in divorce. She lost friends, family, and work-related relationships in the aftermath. Lysa updates her readers on the heartbreak of broken relationships that led to her distrust others’ intentions and motives. While she had no outward signs of trauma, Lysa did have physical signs. Her colon twisted and her doctor thought she’d been in a car accident. Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen completed Lysa's brain scan for signs of trauma using an imaging known as Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, or SPECT. Trauma from emotional abuse has physical and neurological consequences.

The topic inspired Lysa's writing as she discusses what happens when our minds are in constant “fight, flight, or freeze.” People build walls and may isolate themselves to avoid fresh heartbreak. They can even lose trust in their discernment since they failed at vetting people and situations that led to trauma. Lysa uncovers how trauma impacts mind and spirit. She shares how to surrender the pain to God. She wants readers to trust others again and themselves. More importantly, she wants readers to trust God, who is bigger than any disappointment, betrayal, or trauma we suffer in life.

Broken relationships are inevitable in this fallen world. None of us are immune to sin’s effects on our relationships. But we were made for fellowship. We weren’t made to go it alone. Lysa advises her readers to find a Christian counselor to help them heal and grow in a safe space, and she provided two resources: American Association of Christian Counselors and Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselors Network. She needed to take baby steps toward trusting again and did so with a professional counselor.

Lysa worked through her own distrust and “broken belief system” in therapy. She didn’t want to take the latter into new relationships. One or more people hurt her, but she knew that not everyone then is unsafe. She repaired some relationships, but not all. Lysa provides a list of “relational red flags” to put into words the “whys” about those feelings of distrust we have to learn how to once again trust our instincts about people. She also provides ways readers can tell if a relationship can be repaired or whether it’s wise to walk away.

Sometimes you'll even need to walk away from people who say they are Christians. Lysa wrote a relatable bonus chapter on organizational trauma. She had worked hard to help this women's ministry, even speaking at their conferences. A ministry leader gave her too-human, two cents and thought Lysa should do more to make her marriage last. She asked if Lysa had physical bruises, evidence of abuse. Lysa learned they were planning to use her marriage negatively in advertising for their upcoming conference. Legal stepped in, so they nixed that idea. Smart move. That’s the kind of thing that makes Christians break fellowship with others. That’s the kind of thing that makes Christians want to go it alone and rely solely on God. Churches and Christian ministries are supposed to be like hospitals, not country clubs for the soul. (Our Daily Bread)

Final Thoughts

Lysa wants readers to exchange fear for faith that God will work all things for our good and His glory. Yes, God does allows suffering, but He wastes nothing. He uses our trials and tribulations to shape us and to make us more effective Christ-followers and disciples in His Kingdom. Scripture tells Christians to pass on the comfort we receive to others. (2 Cor. 1:4) I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t is Lysa’s way to pass on the comfort she received from Father God. She equips struggling survivors living with PTSD with tools to help them heal and recover in their relationships. One of the verses she quotes often is Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Lysa's findings on the physical impact of emotional trauma in I Want To Trust You But I Don’t reminded me of a book on my reading list. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a neuroscientist and expert on trauma, has this book called The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Trauma reshapes the body and brain, van der Kolk believes, but he also trusts in the brain’s natural neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to grow, adapt, and heal after trauma.

Lysa enjoys alliteration and using repetitive phrases that fairly demand you read aloud from her books. The patterns she uses shape the discussion. Lysa shows readers how her experiences shifted her thinking. She moves from distrust to trust, from fleeing and freezing in fear to fighting in faith, from sinking in deep sorrow to running and jumping with child-like joy in the ocean. Her latest book records this moment in her life when she reached the summit after a difficult, breath-stealing climb to the top of her personal Everest.  

Thank you, Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for the opportunity to read this advance review copy of I Want To Trust You, But I Don't: Moving Forward When You’re Skeptical of Others, Afraid of What God Will Allow, and Doubtful of Your Own Discernment. Lysa will also have a 6-session Bible Study version of I Want To Trust You, But I Don't here.

I have read most of Lysa Terkeurst's books, but this one has struck a serious cord for me. Not only does it explain how she can expertly talk about the subject of trust from her personal experience, but she enables me to understand where I am struggling, how did I get to this point, steps to help me gain wisdom and discernment, and recognize who I am. Yes, Terkeurst points me to Jesus Christ and my faith, but even if you do not believe in Christ, you will gain great understanding concerning the issue of trust. If you have read her book Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, this book is a natural addition to the process of healing.

In a word, extraordinary. This book is for anyone who has had their trust broken, been disappointed by another individual or a group of individuals, and/or no longer trusts their own judgement. So, pretty much everyone on the planet. There were so many relevant passages that often almost the whole page was a sea of yellow. I didn't know her backstory but after reading about it, she has been THROUGH it and knows of what she speaks. Truly revelatory.

Lysa's books are a must-read for me. They are always well-written, relatable, and filled with scripture- and this one was no different. I LOVE psychology and how the brain works, and I liked that Lysa tied some of that within this book as well behind trust issues and trauma. No matter what you've walked through that's led to trust issues, this book helps identify and work through some of those areas from a Biblical perspective (yet doesn't shy away from boundaries or allow for abusive situations). Another great book from Lysa!

This is a very raw, honest and vulnerable book about trust. Why it is important, what happens when it is shattered and how it can be repaired or what to do when it can't. There are reflection questions, prayers and scripture at the end of each chapter.
It is a short read and not overly verbose which I appreciated.
I recommend it for those who need encouragement to trust God and others.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read it in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I Want to Trust You, but I Don't
By: Lysa Terkeurst
Genre: Christian Living

Summary:
You have been hurt or betrayed someone you never thought would do that. You've been devastated by the last person you expected to be. Now what? How do you process all the feelings you, and will, feel? How do you move forward? How do you repair the damage done to you in a healthy way? How do you trust again when your trust has been shattered? Lysa not only walks you through her own journey with these very questions, but she passes what she learned onto you.


Most of us have been betrayed in our life. Some of us have been betrayed by the very person, or people, who continuously declared their unwavering loyalty. And, still, some of us have been betrayed by a loved one, forgiven them and given them a second chance only to be betrayed by them again. Whatever form betrayal took in our lives, it's often incredibly difficult to recover from. Betrayal is a special kind of weapon that leaves scars and wounds that run far deeper than we may realize. If any of this rings true to you, know that you aren't alone.

Lysa has been betrayed by her husband, not once but twice. On top of that, she lost several close people in her life around the same time. So, I think it's fair to say, Lysa knows what she's talking about in regards to the subject. Within these pages, she walks you through her own journey of processing, healing and moving forward. She's honest- her flaws, bumps and bruises. She shares with you some of the wisdom she learned through her devasting journey.

As I read this book, I related to a lot of things she wrote. I saw a lot of things I had to learn. She gets honest about relationships (any form of them) be founded in trust. She addresses those pesky read flags we all hope are flying by mistake, rather than the indicators they really are. Each chapter was full of nuggets that I needed to hear or be reminded of.

The book covers numerous hard hitting aspects of betrayal. Read flags, why God allowed the betrayal to happen and how do you recover and move on if your betrayer gets away with it. Also, why do we stay or have a hard time leaving a relationship we know isn't healthy for us? I can't tell you how wide reaching the chapters are. I wasn't expecting them to be so targeted and full of validity.

I Want to Trust You, but I Don't is a great tool to pick up when you're ready to pick up the pieces and heal. It helps you make sense of things and feelings. It validates your feelings, but helps you process and express them in a healthy way. It was a great resource for me. I hope you find it the same for you.

I couldn’t put this book down and was eating up every word. Going into this book I thought the material was going to address learning to trust God. It does to an extent, but it more so looks at trusting yourself and others again.

What do we do when our trust has been so broken that we no longer trust our own judgment and have become jaded and skeptical of everyone around us? I found Lysa gently provided wisdom from God’s word and her lived experienced. Each chapter ends with a summary where you remember, receive, reflect and pray. I found it really brought the material together and made it easy to apply. At the end of this book, I found I was overwhelmed with the goodness of God. This is not the first time Lysa’s words of truth of reminded me of God’s goodness and brought me to tears.