Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King

I was reading about compassion last night. Some of us feel there is never enough money to spend on helping other people, but we often want that to be someone else’s money. We aren’t pulling it out of our own pocket.

There are people who believe that we cannot give without pitying people we give to. This is why some people believe that charity given through religious organizations is often more effective than through government means. The religious organization can give to people and let them know that they are loved not by us mere mortals, but by God. When people are honestly told someone believes God has a plan for every life and we can do all things in God who strengthens us. What a message to hear in a time of hardship, when we are lost, broken and without hope. This is one of the cornerstones of 12 step programs; it may be why they work.

George Bush talked about the bigotry of low expectations. Isn’t it better to tell people they are not using all of their potentials than that they don’t have any potential? This is all you can do so I don’t expect much is not a good way to build society. Isn’t it better to hold people to higher expectations so they have something to strive for?

When we lose hope we might lose everything. We need to find a way to carry on. I believe people of faith have a strength that people without faith don’t have, a belief in God’s plan for their life.

People are more likely to turn to faith in times of trouble, turmoil, and uncertainty. With faith, we can be humble and confident. We don’t take credit for everything in our life. Oprah said, “God had a bigger dream for my life than I did.” Many people can probably say this. If we believe that God can forgive everything then maybe we can forgive ourselves for our shortcomings and forgive others for theirs. We have all missed the mark and failed. We can start anew with faith, strength, and fortitude.

A man of courage is also full of faith. Marcus Tullius Cicero

How we look at things may affect us more than we think. When we can say, thy will be done we get out of our own head and surrender to what is, deal with what is and believe we have the strength to get to the other side.

There are people who say they never walk alone, God is always with them. This gives them peace, strength to do what they would be afraid to do. In times like these many people will be leaning on their faith more than ever. At the end of this more people will tell us that they felt the presence of God in the midst of this. When things are bigger than us faith may be the one thing that keeps us going.

We need faith to believe that all things can be used for good. We need faith to believe that out of bad times come good times and there are lessons to learn we could learn no other way. We are stronger than we think we are, we can get through this.

Do we have faith? We have faith when we plant a seed when we trust someone to do what they say they will do. Our world works on faith in ourselves, in others, and for some, in God.

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. Rabindranath Tagore

A faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing. Victor Hugo

Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all, if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that he exists. Blaise Pascal

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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Finding Faith: A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest Hardcover – Feb 1 1999

by Brian D. McLaren (Author)