Any tips for having faith?

[Princess777]

Greetings all,

 

I am hoping by posting this that I will receive some tips on handing stressful/hard times in my life over to a higher power. I know that everything happens for a reason, and I know about karma and cause and effect, etc. However, even though armed with this information, I find it extremely difficult to have faith in certain situations, particularly when it comes to relationships. I find it hard to define where to draw the line between just "having faith" and actually doing something to change things in my life. I hope this post makes sense...... there are too many factors to list, so I thought I'd approach it from a general perspective. I guess what I'm asking is, does one approach the option of "having faith" in the outcome of situations only as a last resort, when things appear to be totally out of our control? How do you know when to make that assessment? Please feel free to give examples of when you had to have faith in your life when nothing else worked.

[dikaia880]

Having faith can be one of the hardest things...

I believe in my God...but there are times that seem so dark that it's hard to keep faith...I pray to God to give me faith, and it seems that it helps...

Prayer has gotten me through some tough times...it's also helped me realise that my life isn't so bad and that the dark time is just going to be awhile...

I also try to focus on past 'dark' times in my life and then I focus on how I've come through them back into the good times...

I believe for every down turn there will be an upturn...

 

Karma is something I wonder about...is it because I've done someone wrong in the past that where I'm at now is happening?

 

My current ex situation is much like a past situation where I was on the other side, except I didn't give that girl all sorts of mixed signals like my current ex has given me...but I can't help but wonder if it's karma, and my past coming around to haunt me...hmm...it's interesting to think of Karma...but the problem in my mind is that if you ask God for forgiveness you will be forgiven and that can't be possible with Karma...hmm...more question in my head LOL...

 

Faith is all inside and having positive thoughts during negative times...prayer, like I said, has helped me focus on the positives...

Hope this helped?

What do you think about Karma?

[Athena]

I think the hardest part about having faith is coming to the understanding that what you want for yourself is not always what God has in mind for you.

 

Real faith is about accepting that and being OK with whatever God prescribes for you.

[bleeder]

Hi Princess777,

 

I understand exactly what you are talking about.

 

Faith, is something intangible in our lives. We cannot see it, can't touch it but only feel it with our hearts. Many experiences including religon, requires a certain amount of blind faith. To believe, without seeing.

 

Why do so many people crumble and fall due to a lack of hope or faith? It's because they have reached a point where they cannot believe in what's out there anymore, or whatever is in themselves.

 

In order for us to start on this journey of faith, it is essential we start believing in ourselves first. Only when we are comfortable and confident of ourselves then can we move on to trusting in others.

 

Hope that I have helped in some way.

[Princess777]

Wow, some great answers here. Thank you!

 

To respond, I think karma is real in the way that "what goes around comes around" - this is essential for yin yang and the balance of the universe. Otherwise there would be no reason to press on, in my eyes, because there would be no justice. Knowing that karma exsists keeps me going, through a lot of hard times. My best description/understanding of karma is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, living multiple lifetimes in multiple universes and during those lifetimes we make choices that affect our lives in positive and negative ways, which lead us on to different paths. It is on those paths that we learn lessons in life, and that is whole reason for being here. So I guess my answer to your question about when something "bad" happens to you, are you paying for something you did before? Yes. However, it is not really important to think about the sorrow of paying for it. It's more important to think about the lesson learned, for our spiritual growth, right? I do not believe and never have, that we are shamed beings who are unworthy of eternal life and that we somehow owe someone or something to save us from being condemned to a life of sin. I think our everyday choices affect the spiritual growth of our soul.

[bleeder]

I do believe in Karma too. So...Amen to what you have just said!