Faith (Episode 3 - Archive)Faith (Episode 3 - Archive)
Relational Recovery
Wes Thompson and Austin Hill talk about faith and trust, especially how to rebuild trust in others after hurt and disappointment. Their conversation links Christian spirituality, psychology and real-life stories to offer practical ideas for practising trust in recovery.
6:10•7 Jul 2026
Faith, Trust, and Recovery: Learning Who to Believe In
Episode Overview
- Trust grows through practice and small, intentional choices, especially during hard times.
- Living in blame, excuses and denial keeps people stuck in victimhood and blocks healthy relationships.
- Building trust works best with people who have shown themselves to be trustworthy, not those who repeatedly cause harm.
- Forgiveness does not remove consequences, and repeatedly returning to harmful relationships can stall recovery.
- Appropriate trust means being slower and wiser about who receives trust and when, even if that upsets others.
“"Not trusting anybody is not a good way for anyone to live because it's not going to lead to the flourishing that God desires for us."”
What drives someone to seek a life built on trust after years of hurt and disappointment? This conversation on Relational Recovery centres on faith, not just in God, but in people, and how tricky that can be when your history is full of broken promises and painful experiences. Host Wes Thompson and co-host Austin Hill talk openly about how hard it is to move out of blame, excuses and denial when you're feeling unhealthy or stuck.
Wes points out how easy it is to slip into victimhood, where "you see the world as against you and everyone is against you and it's everyone else's fault." For anyone wrestling with addiction, unwanted behaviours or deep mistrust, this feels uncomfortably familiar. The episode focuses on building trust in a slow, practical way. Wes stresses that "faith is often most required when things are tough," and that choosing to trust is rarely a straight line of constant improvement.
There are good weeks and tough setbacks, and both are part of the process. Austin shares a memorable story about trusting someone with his bicycle and watching that trust backfire. His reflection isn't about giving up on trust, but learning about "appropriate trust" and being wiser about who earns that trust and when. The idea is simple but challenging: you can keep practising trust without repeatedly handing your heart—and your stuff—to untrustworthy people.
You’ll hear how Christian spirituality and psychology meet in this discussion, especially in the reminder that "not trusting anybody is not a good way for anyone to live because it's not going to lead to the flourishing that God desires for us." If you’ve ever wondered how to rebuild faith in people after being let down, this chat might be a helpful place to start.
How might your recovery change if you found a few truly trustworthy people and practised trusting them, one small step at a time?
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