I try not to take my peaceful state of mind these days for granted. Blessed in many ways, there was a period in my life when my faith was not in a good place. Some sad events were going on that had me thinking I was being punished for some bad deed(s) I had committed somewhere along the lines of my life. I wasn’t even sure what the deeds were. I was caught up a depression, the likes of which I had never experienced.
There was a group of friends who saw me through this bad period. They shared their own experiences, strength and hope with me. Not necessarily church goers, they none the less had their core grounded in a power greater than themselves.
For a while, they were the source of my everyday strength. When I was down, they lifted me up. When I was fine, they encouraged me to grow. They hung out with me when I was depressed. I got tired sometimes of their relentless optimisms, but I kept coming back for more. I envied their serenity and peace of mind. They were willing to cede unmanageable parts of their life to God.
Little by little, their faith began to seep into my heart. My friends were living happy lives, though not necessarily problem- free. I was getting brave enough to give faith a new go.
Around this time I owned a street front business with challenging parking. Many times, I would arrive with supplies to unload only to find no parking spaces available. One day I decided to ask God to have a space available to me when I got there. Miraculously, there was a space waiting for me, right across the street from my store. I thought hmmmm, probably just a coincidence. The next time I did the same thing. Prayed. Parking space again. Then, bravely, I started to ask for parking in other areas of the city. Again, I would almost always find a space when I needed it.
This tiny turning over was the sprout of my renewed faith. I slowly began to turn over (i.e. give up control of!) my slightly more annoying problems and ask for help. I didn’t ask that it be done my way. I didn’t have the strength for that and besides, my way was not working. Slowly, my problems began to get solved. I really didn’t do anything but pray for help and WAIT.
It takes some self control not to force solutions. Personally, I like to be in charge and call the shots. But there is a calm and peace in not feeling compelled to solve every problem or climb every mountain. Letting my faith take over is a heck of a lot less stressful.
Today, my life is in a better place. It’s not always perfect (far from it!) but today I live day to day knowing that whatever life throws at me, things will work out if I just have faith. One of my friends once said, God never hurries but he’s always on time. I find that to be true time and time again.
Thanks for stopping by my space!
