Help me learn to trust?

[Madhuri]

How can I learn to have faith while I’m in a situation where I am hurting and I can’t see any way forward?

I would like to be the kind of person who really believes that God will take care of me. I thought I used to be, but I’m going through something painful and confusing right now, I don’t see any worldly way to fix any of it and it really has me shaken. If you can talk me into facing uncertainty with real faith, or any other advice (from any tradition) to get me out of this doubt, I would deeply appreciate it.

As it stands right now, I keep reading New Thought and only managing to half apply it, which is it’s own problem because my inconsistent thinking can be a source of stress in itself. Sometimes I have my thoughts in order, and that might be why my situation is not completely hopeless, but it’s been going on a long time and when I get tired or something happens, I see “problem”, as if it’s all on little me to find a way to fix it and I can’t. I don’t want to worry anymore.

[Native spirit]

We all go through tough times in our lives and yes it can make you question everything.
You feel lost in your own world with no one to guide you. does it seem similar?
Always remember The Angels will help you but you have to Ask them,
They can put signs in your way to guide you.
Always remember you are not going through this Alone.


Namaste

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Madhuri

...I don’t see any worldly way to fix any of it and it really has me shaken....Sometimes I have my thoughts in order, and that might be why my situation is not completely hopeless, but it’s been going on a long time and when I get tired or something happens, I see “problem”, as if it’s all on little me to find a way to fix it and I can’t. I don’t want to worry anymore.

Some good advice from Native spirit.

You do not say exactly what your situation is, but we all go through times of testing and being lost and confused. This is our learning or, as it is called in some teachings, the burning ground. This is a point of crisis, a time of purification, a time of letting go of things which no longer serve us. It is usually followed by a major step forward. But in order to advance we have to let go of whatever is holding us back, and this can be a difficult and painful process.

When all else fails, surrender the entire situation to God or your Higher Self. You have done all you can to try to fix this, and maybe it is time to hand it over to a higher power. Then try to live one day at a time, with faith that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Peace

[Native spirit]

Good Advice from iamthat


Namaste

[kris]

"Help me learn to trust?"

Who or what do you want to trust?

Here is what I trust. I think all that happens in the universe happens because of its inevitability. I am saying this because the universe does not do anything on a whim. Rather, its functioning is based on its fundamental laws.

Hence if you desire a certain outcome, you must make that outcome inevitable. I am speaking in generalities. In practice, what one needs to do to make a certain outcome inevitable depends on what you desire and the state of the universe at the time. But one also needs to know the laws on which the universe operates in order to choose the right action or actions to make desired outcome inevitable!

[FoxTracks]

Good advice from everyone so far. I too have been suffering for some time, terribly suffering, from an illness I had. I never, ever lost faith. However, I did shrink away from my spirituality because I was so sick that I nearly forgot about my spirit Allie’s. I recently reconnected with them and found an interesting tidbit from a book I was re-reading that changed my life. The author had gone through a debilitating illness as well. What turned it around for her was when she received the wisdom that every challenge happens as a lesson. The larger the challenge, the more opportunity we have to rise to the occasion and learn what we can from the situation.

My Illness has been a lesson of love and compassion. The deeper my well of pain, the more I remembered to be compassionate to others. I just came to this realization recently. It was love, all along, guiding me through my pain. I will never forget this lesson as long as I live. It was a whopper. It also reminded me not to stop searching within and always water my spirituality. In this way, I grew, and began to overcome my illness by making peace with it and learning to cope. Now I am better than I have been in years.

My advice to you is to turn inward and deeply contemplate what lesson or soul lesson you might be learning here. Once you have this answer, you might find peace and inner strength, like I did. I learned to trust in my spirit family and source, that I was not being picked on but shown the way to greater love, light, and vitality. Perhaps you can learn this too.

Love and light your way,

FoxTracks

[Madhuri]

Originally Posted by Native spirit

Always remember you are not going through this Alone.

This is such a lovely thing to say, I really do need to hear it, thank you!

I think you are right. I ask, but it’s the “ask, believing you have received” that gets me. I think I would be a happier person for the rest of my life if I could ask and then, every time, assume that the prayer has been heard and that there must be things going on that will work out everything for the best, even in situations where we can’t see how it will happen.

I have a few quotes written out on post-its on my wall, there’s one by Florence Scovel Shinn which says,
“Infinite Spirit,
reveal to me the way;
let me know if there is anything for me to do.”

[Madhuri]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him. Romans 8:28.
This is true.

This is so beautiful, I will need to put it somewhere I can see it often.

I think I have all of Florence’s books. I always think of her as someone I would love to have as a friend. I find her writing style especially easy to read, and her affirmations are so good!
I appreciate your list of recommendations. Even seeing authors I know is good because it’s just exciting to know that someone else read and found value in their work. But I haven’t read ‘Practicing the Presence’, I will have to see if I can find it. I have just started reading ’High Mysticism’ by Emma Curtis Hopkins, although I’m not far enough into it to say much about it yet.

I love your prayer example. There really is something to being able to say thank You while going through tough times.

[Madhuri]

Originally Posted by iamthat

Then try to live one day at a time, with faith that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

I keep trying to think how to explain it, but details are probably not helpful or appropriate for this conversation. Short version - I recently learned that someone I love very much is being abused in ways I didn’t know could be possible. I’ve seen a side of human cruelty that I couldn’t have imagined existed, my efforts to help seem to make things worse, and certain details about this situation mean there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to turn for help.

I wanted to explain that much, because sometimes this New Though stuff can sound a lot like being in denial. There’s nothing I want more than to come back here and tell this story again with a happy ending.

Pray for me that I learn these lessons the first time? I don’t ever want to go through this again. I can’t go back to the way I used to be, and I don’t want bitterness to change me for the worse.

Walter Lanyon used this metaphor about how, if you have your eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel, you don’t go along feeling like you have to clean the filth off the tunnel walls as they go by.

[Madhuri]

Originally Posted by kris

Who or what do you want to trust?

I think what I really want to be able to trust is the unknown. I want to believe that good will win, and that doing the right thing means something. But what causes me to worry is the way I feel like I have to be able see how the outcome I want is possible, or that it’s on me to do something to make it happen.

I like the thought that I get to decide what’s inevitable. I think I can be trusted with that responsibility