With Faith and Patience, Life is a Lot More Manageable
Let’s learn how with faith and patience, life is a lot more manageable. Have you ever been stuck in a rut, lost about what to do next? Or maybe you’ve reached your wit’s end when it comes to dealing with a certain someone. Or, in an even more common scenario, maybe you just can’t stand the bumper-to-bumper traffic on your commute home from work.
What if we told you that there was a free and effective solution to these scenarios? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But it’s not! With faith and patience, life is a lot more manageable, and you’d be surprised how your circumstances can change.
What Is Faith?
Faith is the belief or trust in things unseen. For some, faith may seem like a difficult task, but humans actually show faith every day. Every time you make a plan for later in the day or the future, you’re exhibiting faith that you’ll reach that plan.
Sometimes we get shaky or moved by life circumstances. We may start to doubt our capabilities or worry about our situation. This doesn’t mean you don’t have faith – it means that your faith is in the wrong thing.
By putting your faith solely in God instead, you’re letting go of the burden that was weighing on your shoulders. You’ve done all you can do in this physical world and the rest is simply out of your control. By using faith, you’re saying that the control doesn’t lie within someone else or a certain outcome but in your protector and heavenly father God.
Faith and Patience Working Together
Faith works hand-in-hand with patience, as without one you cannot have the other. If I say I have faith that everything is going to turn out well, but then I panic and start backpedaling on my decisions, I don’t have true faith.
Faith requires you to let go, take a step back, and… wait.
Waiting is perhaps one of the most difficult things for people. We can’t wait to give our opinion, offer feedback, or ask more questions instead of sitting still and listening. We can’t wait to finish work or for the weekend to come, much less have the patience to ride out a difficult situation in life.
If you can put your faith in God, you prove it through your patience. It is time to trust and wait.
Managing Life with Faith and Patience
Now that you’ve focused your faith on the right place – God – and are openly practicing patience in tough situations, let’s see what that looks like.
Facing Life’s Difficulties
Managing life with faith and patience doesn’t mean that your life will suddenly be problem-free and easy-peasy. You will still face hurdles, just like anyone else. The difference is that you will see these hurdles like minor road bumps, whereas others may see them as tsunami waves.
By trusting God, you are leaning on his strength and believing that he will take care of you during the storm. This means you are no longer giving power to situations that may affect you.
Does someone disrespect you? Trust that God will provide clarity and peace to assist that person.
Is traffic worse than ever? Trust God that you are in the right place at the right time.
Has your boss been overwhelming at work? Trust that God will give you the guidance to reach your goals regardless of the adversity that’s thrown your way.
Overcoming Worry
Stressful situations in life are bound to bring up worry. When we worry, the only thing we accomplish is giving ourselves extra wrinkles over something that probably won’t happen to begin with. In fact, many psychologists agree that over 75% of the things we worry about never come to pass! Imagine if you put that energy into thanking and trusting God instead.
When you face life’s difficulties with faith and patience, you are giving worry a backseat. You are working on kicking worry out of your mindset altogether! Instead, you replace worry with peace. Psalm 4:8 put it best, saying, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
We cannot rest, recuperate, or move forward if we are worrying. To do so, we must have peace, and that is what we find when we put our faith in God.
Growing in Confidence
As we face our battles with faith and patience, our battles turn from mountains into molehills. This makes life extremely more manageable, from how we address difficulties to how we move past them.
The more times you do this, the stronger your faith will grow, and the more confidence you will have. This is self-confidence and – most importantly – confidence that God will lead the way to your brightest future.
Putting It to Work
How can you start implementing more faith and patience into your daily life? It’s easy! The next time something ruffles your feathers or makes you want to yell, hit pause.
Take a deep breath, walk away from the situation, and say a short prayer thanking God for your patience and faith.
“Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” – Mathew 21:22.