Monday, April 23, 2007

The Importance of Faith


What does it mean to have faith? To believe in something we can't see? To persevere despite odds and obstacles? To hang on when all seems lost?

Much is said about faith, yet little is understood about it. Everytime anyone says the word faith, we tend to associate it with religion. That is a limited view, for faith operates in all aspects of life. To study we need faith that we won't fail, to drive we need faith in ourselves; faith something which most of the people don't seem to understand today.

We need faith in order to manage our lives. We place our faith in certain laws of nature. We need faith in ourselves and in our abilities, talents and skills. We need faith in our personal relationships, without it we would be adrift in uncertain seas. There is not one aspect of life that does not require faith in order to function at its optimum. When tragedy strikes, when the world turns upside down, it is faith that sees us through. The faith that we will succeed, faith that we can make it through, faith is the reason everyone functions and does what they do.

Faith is the engine that drives our existence. Without faith, we are not motivated to believe anything, do anything, accomplish anything. Once we discover faith, we must continually nourish it. If we do not nourish it and use it daily, it weakens like an unused muscle. Without faith, we begin to fall into doubt, and from doubt we sink into fear. Fear leads to a breakdown of order, and of spirit.

Despite the abundance of personal testimony that faith enables us to work wonders, we don't put faith to its full use. Rather than develop our spiritual muscles through prayer, meditation, right thinking, right living, and dreaming big goals, we wait for catastrophe to strike. Then we beseech God for help, hoping that God will come through quickly, but panicked that our prayers might not work. How foolish! Had we practiced our faith every day, we would know without doubt that every prayer is answered and every step is guided.

Even without catastrophe, we sometimes doubt our faith. We set a goal, and then wonder if we will reach it. Doubt creeps into our minds about our skills and abilities. Every time even the tiniest doubt enters our minds, we erode faith, and thus erode our ability to achieve the heights.
Because of our doubts, we ask for signs of assurance, proof that prayers are answered, that God exists, that God works through humanity, that we can do what we think we can do. We say, "If only I can have a sign, then I will have faith." But if we have faith in the first place, we do not need the signs and proofs. With faith, we know that life itself is an ongoing proof of the covenant of God. We know that we will be provided for. We know that every problem will find a solution. We know that we will succeed. We know that we can work miracles.

We also do not use our full miracle-manifesting potential because it is characteristic of people to let others do their thinking for them. We give our power away. We think that only certain appointed ones, certain mystics or prophets or institutions, can access the power of Spirit. This is erroneous thinking, and it keeps us away from our good, and from realizing our full potential. We all have access to the same substance, the same power from the Source of All Being. We must believe that we do. We must have faith that we do. In so believing, we have what we seek in an instant.
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1998 by Rosemary Ellen Guiley