“I am so saddened that you doubt my love for you, after I’ve done everything possible to prove it over and over again. It really breaks my heart that the one thing I ask you for, which is to trust me, knowing that I have your back, you have refused to do. At the slightest hint of discomfort or fear, you’re quick to forget all I have done to prove my love…”
The above sounds like a conversation between two lovers, and the person whose heart is broken over his lovers mistrust could possible get tired at some point and decide to let go of the relationship. Will he/she be justified, after incessantly trying to prove his/or her love to the partner for years on end, to no avail? Your answer will probably be yes, and understandable so, because one of the grundnorms, or foundations of any healthy relationship is trust.
So if we agree that trust is an important ingredient in any relationship, and helps it to wax strong, why then cant we apply same to God, who created us, and reminds us daily of his unconditional love by the gift of life and forgiveness? Why cant we trust a being that has told us that regardless of our wellspring of shortcomings nothing can separate us from his love???
When God created man, he created him in ‘his image and likeness’, meaning in more ways than we know, or can ever understand, we are like God. So if we can get broken by the mistrust or questioning of our loyalty by a partner, then imagine how disappointed God must feel, when everytime we have challenges, or hit a bump in life, we become so paralysed with fear arising from that situation that we start to look for our own solutions, sometimes without even consulting him. We pray and ask God for help, yet we turn to human beings as back-up, ‘just incase God doesn’t answer on time’. We need to do better.
Read Also: Reminder: Nothing Can Separate You From God’s Love (Part 1)
There are many books, many scholars, authors who have written about the power of positive thought, and the need to believe that good things will come even in the midst of life’s heaviest storms. This is because all our actions, or activities in life, good or bad, stem from thoughts. So if for instance, you need to pay your rent, and your savings cannot cover it. And then you start to think that you may never be able to pay it, your next line of action will probably be to start looking for your own ways to augment, which will possibly involve borrowing or other desperate means fuelled by your negative line of thought . But if you are confident that you would pay your rent, regardless of not knowing how, there are many proven schools of thoughts aside the bible that you likely will. (I say ‘likely’ baring in mind that God may have bigger plans like getting a better place, which will not happen if do not first lose the current abode.)
You’d find when you’re positive that somehow your positivity and faith gives you zeal and the ability to start seeing possibilities, ways that the rent will be paid, or that problem solved without you getting dejected (dejection and melancholy saps strength and cognitive problem solving skills) or thinking the worse. Your faith will then start propelling you, giving you good ideas, born out of clear thought, right thinking and an optimistic frame of mind.
“Believe that whatever problem you’re facing at every point you will surmount, because you always have.”
Always choose the line of thought and believe that whatever problem you’re facing at every point you will surmount, because you always have. Choose to believe that God is faithful and hold on to his promises. Remind yourself of the popular aphorism that ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’. The obstacle often time is the way, in the sense that it strengthens your character, helps you to learn and gives you the ability to face problems head-on in future, with a stronger resolve.
In all this, I’m not oblivious to the fact that FAITH is hard. Believing in something that you cannot see any pointer to how it would happen is even harder. But this is where mental strength comes in. The mental strength to believe that your current uncongenial situation is temporary, and part of your journey, relevant for the fulfilment of your destiny. This kind of faith, mental strength that breeds optimism in the face of obstacles and uncertainty, is what separates champions from losers, greatness from mediocrity. The ability to trust that everything will eventually work out for your good, according to God’s will, and even if it doesn’t happen as soon as you want it, it will happen eventually.
As human beings, I’ve come to understand that when faced with two choices, we always by default, pick the easier one, even when we know that in the long run it may not be the best. Doubt, fear, is easier to embrace, and most times unconsciously. When obstacles arise, it very easy to almost drown in doubt and fear, resulting in desperation that leads to making the wrong choices. These wrong choices then have ripple effects on the quality of our lives. So how then can one choose to stay positive and have faith when the very nature of our human instinct is to do otherwise?
My answer to this is PRAYER. Prayer makes us mindful, and overtime changes our default reaction from doubt and fear, to trust and optimism. Through prayer-which here is just basically telling God all the time to help you have faith, and believe, asking him consistently. When you do this, he gradually strengthens your mind and turns it from fear, leading you through his word. All you need do is consistently talk to him, even before the situation arises. And even when it does, talk to him about it, he always comes through.
This is why the aphorism ‘Prayer is the key’, carries more weight than most of us comprehend. Prayer unlocks all good things including positivity, faith, and optimism. Through consistent prayer we also get to have a relationship with God,, which is while the bible urges us to ‘Keep on Praying’. If it is impossible to have a great relation with anyone without great communication, it is the same thing with God.
The ability to have faith is one of the hardest abilities a person can possess, yet is one of the biggest prerequisites for success. So daily we must try to be better than we were yesterday, asking for help where human nature unconsciously tries to choose the opposite of faith. This mindfulness helps us to fight doubt, giving us the needed clarity and perspective on a situation. It helps us to know that fear and worry solves nothing. It also helps us to take control, giving us peace, in raging storms.
