“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” ~ D. Elton Trueblood
How many of you have heard the phrase “have faith?” Usually it was dumped on me as I was lamenting a Chicken Little perspective on some situation in my young life. That response had the uncanny ability to frustrate me because I was looking for someone to spend emotional energy with me complaining or worrying about the obvious disaster that loomed. When someone would calmly and casually say, “have faith,” it took all the steam out of my negative agenda.
There are times when “trust without reservation” is easier said than lived. When the challenges, failures, or lack of progress are bigger than your small, routine, and seemingly insignificant daily celebrations, simply trusting you are on your way to success is nearly impossible to embrace. Without evidence to the contrary, the negative energy seems to be winning the battle against your continuous push and belief that you will end up where you committed to being.
Faith is pretty blind. It does not keep score. It simply trusts that you will reach your destination and that you need to keep moving in order to get. “Have faith” is an awfully simple quote for such a challenging and frustrating environment.
I have to admit I have been on the other side of this conversation a few times lately. I have felt a little off course, loss, not sure that I am on my path in my journey. My inability to get closure on a few issues, to tangibly make progress in a few others, and the lack of answers to some of my most important questions have really frustrated me lately. When I find myself in these situations, all I can do is keep moving and find something that has occurred in the past few months that I can grab on to as a reminder that there has been a lot of productive and positive change in my world.
Yesterday I took tension and negativity out for a ride on my bike. About one-third of the way on the bike ride I said out loud,”I can’t do this anymore.” My frustrations have reached a crescendo. A simple “have faith” moment was not working for me. Somewhere along the ride, tension and negativity fell off the bike. I hope they are okay, because I don’t want anyone ever to get hurt on my rides; but, I was relieved that they were gone. What replaced it was a re-focus of my energy to at least accomplish one thing in the right direction.
It was that declaration that I can’t do this anymore that got my attention. I realized, it was living in the negative, frustrated environment that I gave up on – not my commitment to pushing onward even though much wasn’t really working.
That is the moment of trust and faith. Instead of letting the negative kill you, you allow your believe in yourself and your mission to take you to a productive and peaceful place. “Have faith” isn’t always easy. But, it is that place that allows you to find your groove and get back on your path once you discover you cannot do negative anymore.
