Trust in Jesus Guides Us Through Difficult Times

Susan Ciancio discusses how we can look to Jesus’ Sacred Heart for the comfort we need during challenging times. 

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1673, Jesus appeared to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque and told her how he wants us to venerate his Sacred Heart. 

A few hundred years later, in 1931, St. Faustina had a mystical vision of Christ, where he reportedly said, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You.’” This image depicts Christ with “his alb open at his chest as rays of red and white light radiate from his Sacred Heart.” 

Today, we know this devotion as the Divine Mercy. And both of these visions teach us about the love in Jesus’ Sacred Heart.  

Jesus, I Trust in You 

Jesus wants us to trust in Him, even when tragedy strikes or things go wrong. I’ve discovered that great mental and spiritual strength result from that trust.  

We all have something in life that breaks our hearts, that makes us ache, or that we pray about on a daily basis. Many of us have several of these things. Trust in Jesus guides us through these times. 

I know this all too well. My husband left 13 years ago, and the divorce was finalized a couple years afterward. I immediately filed for an annulment in the diocese we live in. It was denied.  

Canon law says that you can file under different grounds in the diocese you married in, so I did that. It was denied. 

I appealed to Rome, and in March 2021 the Roman Rota received my paperwork. I am still waiting for a decision. 

I could go on and on about the misrepresentation I had in my current diocese, about the misrepresentation I had in the second diocese, and how two “advocates” literally stopped responding to me in the middle of my case. I could also lament about the fact that my Rome “advocate” has only responded five times to my many queries since July 2023.  

The process is beyond frustrating, and I have found myself sitting at a crossroads for more than 10 years. Which road can I take? Will it be a road I have to travel alone, or will it be a road where I can find someone to accompany me? Sometimes I don’t even care what the answer is; I simply want the freedom to start my journey. 

God’s Love Encompasses Us 

People tell me that “God must have a reason,” but I find that to be a copout. God didn’t want this. 

In times like these, I can’t help but look to that beautiful Heart of Jesus — the Heart that loves so fiercely — and know that while I cannot always trust in other people, I can always trust in Him. My heart feels a little fuller because I know that through it all He’s there with outstretched arms showing me his heart, telling me He loves me. I know he’s saying “You are Mine. I am here.” 

And because of that, sometimes all I can say is “Jesus, I trust in You.” 

This is a lesson He wants us all to understand. Jesus loves us more than we can ever imagine. With Him there are no favorites, there are no higher priorities. He loves every single one of us unconditionally. And if we are truly Christians, we will not only believe this but cling to this truth.  

Jesus wants us to have unwavering trust in Him because He truly does have a plan, and that is for us to spend eternity with Him. And while this plan does not include our pain, He promises that He will take this pain and turn it into something great. Jesus allows our life experiences to shape us, to make us wiser, and to draw us closer to Him. And like an iron forged in fire that becomes stronger, we will too when we trust God and face and conquer adversity with Him by our side.  

Through our trust in God, we gain strength and grow in faith because we truly understand that no matter how the world crushes us, there is one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love of our Lord.  

His Sacred Heart bursts with love for us. And He wants us to know that when we experience heartbreak, we can count on Him. We are not alone. That’s what those five simple words mean.   

So we pray, we hope, we wait, and we tell Him with conviction, “Jesus, I trust in You.” And in so doing we unite our hearts to His Sacred Heart knowing that His love will guide us through every storm we encounter.  

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Copyright 2025 Susan Ciancio
Images: iStock, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries