Faith Is Belief, Letting Go And Choice

          Something I don’t understand

          If this is part of your plan

          Just let your big waters fall

          ‘Til I make sense of it all

          Cry sky

(from "Cry Sky", on the Double Trouble CD, Been A Long Time)

     Faith is all about letting go of your issues, especially pain, and then knowing that it will eventually make sense.  Faith is about believing there is a divine plan and trusting it. 

     It may seem like a bit of a paradox, but one of the secrets of acting with faith is to take control your attitude and take responsibility for your reaction.  It takes a conscious effort to choose to release your issues.  What we perceive as “bad things” happen to all of us at some time or another.  Sometimes we get it right away – we understand why and what is going on.  Other times, we don’t have a clue.  We get angry about the situation.  We feel helpless or confused.  However, we are not completely helpless.  We are in control of our reaction, of the attitude we choose, and different attitudes can lead to different outcomes or realities.  You can overcome it or be overcome by it.  The choice is yours! 

     But getting back to faith, the way to deal with the confusion and anger is to just release it.  Who says you have to make sense of things immediately?  If everything that happens to us happens for a reason, surely you’ll get the point some time down the line. 

     I have found that there are essentially two parts to acting with faith.  First, believe that what happens is part of a divine plan and, secondly, choose to release yourself to the outcome.  Most of the time, the meaning or the lesson makes itself known only after you decide to release your will.  Until then you might just be reacting, even if it is to “cry sky”.  Whatever your initial response, one thing is for sure – you end up having to regain control of your reaction and tough it out.  You also have to get to the part where you release it.  When you are no longer in the energy of the “bad thing” and its pain, guess what happens?  Well, most of the time it all begins to make sense!  Well, it does, that is, if you are in tune with your inner voice and honestly self-aware.  But that is a whole other subject!    

     Just remember, faith is:  believing in a divine plan; letting go of the outcome, pain, confusion, etc.; and choosing to overcome rather than be overcome.  Faith is a great prescription for stress, don’t you think?