One of the greatest gifts my faith has brought me is an internal sense of peace and joy. It’s easy to feel at peace or joyful when everything is going well in life. Being able to feel peace and joy even when things are difficult or not going the way you had hoped – is something really special. This doesn’t mean I don’t ever feel sad, defeated, hurt, or any other negative emotion anymore. It just means that those more “negative” emotions are fleeting. Peace and joy tend to stick around, regardless of circumstances.
I have always been a pretty happy person and never really struggled with continued periods of sadness. But when there are hard things in life, it can be hard to not let them affect you. I have wanted to work on being filled with peace and joy at in every situation, even when things in life get hard. I tried so many different “self-help” or personal growth techniques. The goal was to become so good at remaining happy and peaceful, even in the hardest times. While these things have had a positive impact on me over time and gave me tools, nothing really ever did the trick. I couldn’t ever find that tool or mindset shift that would make all the difference and last long term. The thing that really changed my heart and feels sustainable long term – was finding my faith.
Developing my faith and my relationship with God changed my heart and my life more in a few months, than any “self-help” revelation could over the course of years
Having faith in God is having faith and trusting in something so much bigger than yourself. I found I humbled myself a lot and realized that the reason “self-help” books never fully worked was because I won’t ever be able to do it all on my own. I need God and to have faith in Him. You are surrendering and accepting that you can’t have control over everything. While that sounds scary in some situations, it’s actually so freeing and gives you a different sense of control.
If you think everything is on you to control and make sure it all works out – that can drive you crazy. If you let go of that control of every single little thing and are just intentional with your life choices, you can relax and know that God has you. Live the way God wants you to, He will bring the right things and people into your life.
Having faith in God has allowed me to let go of the past and stop ruminating on past situations or mistakes. God has given me so much grace and mercy that it feels okay to move on and look to the future. I have never believed as much as I do now, that God has a plan for my life. I felt drawn in and I know that was a call from Him.
Having faith and trusting in God is so freeing
Something that used to cause me to overthink and prevented me from moving forward was needing to understand everything. I felt like I needed to understand the reason why, the purpose of and what caused what’s happening to happen. Faith in God has taught me that I don’t need to and sometimes I won’t be able to understand everything. God’s plan is greater than ours and He works in ways we can’t understand.
I also like to think about the other areas of my life that have worked out even when it seemed like it wouldn’t. That makes me think that this area I’m currently concerned about will work out too – even if it has not yet.
I also try to let go of all the little things and focus on the bigger picture. I have been working on discernment and learning to recognize the signs God is sending me and try to prevent myself from falling victim to misunderstanding other signs.
Living the ways God intended, makes for an easier life
While in the moment living the way God intended may seem harder, it does overall make your life easier. The goal is to love God and love others. God always wants us to make peace. We should resist temptation and when we sin – ask for forgiveness and repent. Following this path will make us happier overall.
One of the hardest things to do is to love the people who wrong you. I’ve been really wronged by certain people in the past. I’ve learned holding onto hate or a grudge doesn’t actually hurt them, it hurts you. I would pray to God to stop the pain or help me move on. He worked through me and my actions to do that. The moment I listened to God to let go of the negative emotions and decided to have love for them instead – it all changed. Instead of hanging onto the negative emotions, I prayed for the people who hurt me.
Don’t forget to worship and give thanks regularly
Worshiping and giving thanks to God brings joy to your heart. Nothing gives you energy and fills your heart quite like doing this. Remember how much God loves you. Becoming a mom has shown me another level of love I can have – the love I have for my child. We are God’s children and He loves like that. Humble yourself and remember you can’t do it alone.