I've been thinking a lot about faith lately. My patriarchal blessing says that I have been blessed with great faith. And as a child and teenager, that was easy to believe, especially since nothing bad every really happened to me. Oh, I had my "trials" just like everyone else, but nothing that really challenged my beliefs. But I've started wondering how to have faith but also have your heart aligned with God's will.
For example, If I were to develop a terrible disease, I'm totally, 100% sure that if God wanted it, I could be cured. No problem. But does He want to? What if it's His will that I suffer? What if there's "something I'm supposed to learn" from said ailment? All the faith in the world won't change God's will....or could it? If I had stronger faith, would I be healed, even if it's not part of God's plan for me?
So how do I know what God wants for me? How do I pray the "right" way and ask only for those things which God wants for my life? What if my faith is great, but not placed in the right area? Is my my faith then in vain, and I end up a bitter, dying old woman? Or must I accept that whatever God does is the best thing...
...but then, does God have an active hand in everything that happens to us? Do some things just happen because they happen and God just observes? Are these things really planned out for us?
I have so many questions.
5 comments:
I've pondered this same subject to great extent. My thoughts: I think the crux of faith is to 1) trust in the Lord's love, and 2) to know that nothing is irreversible.
Two points which I've heard on the matter don't seem legitimate. First, I don't think our future is charted such that everything that happens was “supposed to happen.” We live in a world where every day alive is a day closer to death. It's not a dreary world, but still, there are dangers that affect our fragile bodies (and emotions?). Sure God knows what we are prone to choose and what the outcomes of those choices will be. And definitely, God sends promptings to guide/influence our decisions. We are still ultimately responsible for our choices in response to what happens to us. There are times when the results of our choices bless the lives of others, too. Hence the importance to be sensitive to impressions upon your soul.
Second, I don't believe that God intends for certain of His children to be deprived, uneducated, handicapped, or trivial. Every person is significant. While we may have had the good fortune to be born within loving families in peaceful lands where food abounds and modern conveniences are routine, that doesn't imply that we are loved more than those of more indigent circumstances. I'm not suggesting there is no strategy involved with who is born when and where, because I DO think there is purpose to my life. (Though I would also seek to discover that purpose if I were born elsewhere at a different time).
Can we change God's will? My answer is: No. And I wouldn't want to do so. He loves me and desires my happiness. Everything he DOES is to that end. Will he take action on things that are otherwise left alone if we ask? Yes, occasionally. To me, it's okay to be sad when He doesn't intervene and perform a miracle on our behalf. What better chance to prove our resilience? To defeat despair. To persist.
I'll wait in line with you in heaven to ask these sorts of questions!
I really loved this post. I always have a million questions and feel at times frustrated when they can't be answered.
I agree that is ok to be frustrated and sad when he doesn't intervene when we want him to. I also feel that if he intervened every single time, there would be no chance for us to grow and become happier people.
Oh Kelly - this blog post pretty much echoes a conversation that Max and I have...oh, I'd say weekly. If we want something to happen, or something to change in the physical world (illness etc) should we just ramp up our faith? But what if that's not God's will? It makes it hard to have faith because what if its not "answered"? What does that mean about us? What does that mean about God?
I, like you, have no problem believing that God has the power to do whatever he chooses - but then why doesn't he answer ALL of our prayers especially those that suffering be lifted? I'm not one of those "Everything Happens for a Reason" people. Well, let me rephrase that: I don't think that God has a secret path for us that we have to uncover through stealth and fasting, BUT I do believe that our relationship with God can make all that we do part of our own personal plan back to him. It works kind of the other way around for me. To have joy in this life and salvation in the next is the plan for all His children, but I think beyond that we have a lot more to do with creating "our path" than some do.
Max appeased me to some extent the other day when, in a moment of exasperation I said "Well, why do we pray and exhibit faith if we can't change the will of God?" He said that we pray and have faith to let our will be known to God, but then move forward accepting and bearing His. I don't know, for some reason it was so freeing for me to let go of the idea that if I were just more faithful I could move mountains, change hearts, and cure bodies. I think sometimes my faith is misplaced and perhaps it is enough to have faith that Jesus is the Christ and all will be made known to us in time. It is enough for me at least.
Fautie says:
These are queries almost everyone that has any faith asks at some point in time or another. I am not sure there are any pat answers. It is really something for each of us to explore in our own time and way. Certainly life challenges that come to us personally may exacerbate our interest in such questions. And it seems that trials cause us to examine such question more seriously. For me, at least without having all the answers, I hope trials that come lead me to a deeper more Christ like life and manner. I prefer to develop what I refer to as the divine attributes without trials but often have found I think about them more when trials come.
Post a Comment