Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Lately I have been thinking a lot about tests and difficulties, as they are referred to in my religion. I don’t know if God sends these tests to believers to test them or if they are just part of this life on earth, but I believe that God is responsible for creating this earth so God is responsible for the tests that we have to endure upon it.
It seems like as soon as one test hits and I face it and get through it I am hit by another test, so I don’t believe the tests will ever end. Sometimes I am not sure how much more I can take. Lately my faith in God has been sorely tested, although maybe it is yielding some fruits because I seem to have some insights and realizations.
I am sure there will be more stormy waters, but now that I have successfully navigated through some stormy seas, am starting to believe that that God has been guiding my ship and sending me help just when I needed it. I could write this off to luck or chance but I believe it was God’s Guidance. This is not the first time this has happened but when I am in the eye of the storm, I seem to forget the past help I received.
Mind you, I do not believe I deserve to get anything from God the way I have been questioning God’s love and goodness lately. I feel somewhat ashamed, but maybe this is God’s way of showing me that He is merciful after all, which is what my religion teaches. Maybe God helps us in spite of our lack of faith and love towards Him.
I believe that God knows what is in my heart and mind better than I can ever know of it, so I am sure God knew that I was not losing my faith, that I was just reacting emotionally, which is what I am coming to realize now that ‘some’ of the storm clouds have cleared.
I don’t believe I can make it in my life alone, without God’s help. I know I need help, and that help usually comes by way of thoughts that come into my mind and people who ‘I believe’ God puts in my life to help me.
Having faith and trust in God does not mean I am going to sit back and do nothing, because I believe in free will and that I am responsible for my own life, and I believe that my progress in life depends upon my own efforts. I am responsible to do the footwork to try to solve my own problems and then I believe I will get assistance from God.
“The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures. Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore, depend upon man’s own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 81-82
“Know thou that all men have been created in the nature made by God, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting. Unto each one hath been prescribed a pre-ordained measure, as decreed in God’s mighty and guarded Tablets. All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition. Your own acts testify to this truth.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 149
It seems like as soon as one test hits and I face it and get through it I am hit by another test, so I don’t believe the tests will ever end. Sometimes I am not sure how much more I can take. Lately my faith in God has been sorely tested, although maybe it is yielding some fruits because I seem to have some insights and realizations.
I am sure there will be more stormy waters, but now that I have successfully navigated through some stormy seas, am starting to believe that that God has been guiding my ship and sending me help just when I needed it. I could write this off to luck or chance but I believe it was God’s Guidance. This is not the first time this has happened but when I am in the eye of the storm, I seem to forget the past help I received.
Mind you, I do not believe I deserve to get anything from God the way I have been questioning God’s love and goodness lately. I feel somewhat ashamed, but maybe this is God’s way of showing me that He is merciful after all, which is what my religion teaches. Maybe God helps us in spite of our lack of faith and love towards Him.
I believe that God knows what is in my heart and mind better than I can ever know of it, so I am sure God knew that I was not losing my faith, that I was just reacting emotionally, which is what I am coming to realize now that ‘some’ of the storm clouds have cleared.
I don’t believe I can make it in my life alone, without God’s help. I know I need help, and that help usually comes by way of thoughts that come into my mind and people who ‘I believe’ God puts in my life to help me.
Having faith and trust in God does not mean I am going to sit back and do nothing, because I believe in free will and that I am responsible for my own life, and I believe that my progress in life depends upon my own efforts. I am responsible to do the footwork to try to solve my own problems and then I believe I will get assistance from God.
“The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures. Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore, depend upon man’s own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 81-82
“Know thou that all men have been created in the nature made by God, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting. Unto each one hath been prescribed a pre-ordained measure, as decreed in God’s mighty and guarded Tablets. All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition. Your own acts testify to this truth.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 149
