Who Do You Believe and Trust In?

Purple sky

We are mentally able to believe in many things. Some commendable and some ridiculous. There remains a society that believes the earth is flat! In 1995, a patent was given for a Fork Alarm to time one’s eating! Now there’s something we could use. How many people do we know that are superstitious? All it takes to believe some things are a faith conviction that it is possible. 

More reasonable, however, we often believe people we know rather than strangers or even celebrities. Our parents probably had an influence on us, and we believed they could do just about anything (based on how much we trusted them). Growing up, teachers, grandparents, siblings, friends, and pastors were on our list of those we trusted. We may or may not have had a spouse we could trust, until one day we couldn’t anymore for many good reasons including lack of integrity and dishonesty.

What About Faith?

Faith in someone’s character, therefore, is built on trust and knowledge. It isn’t something we can see or touch, but it is something that is unseen, like the wind. We can feel the wind on our skin and see it moving a tree branch or leaf, and so, we believe it exists. We know what it “feels like” to trust someone and so, over time, we believe in that person.   

The Bible tells us “faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.” Of course, that statement is not to be taken literally. It is just pointing out that it takes very little true faith in something or someone to believe in possibilities.

As single-again women (and that includes divorced, widowed, and single moms), we have already “jumped over” many hurdles and stumbling blocks in our way on the road to possibilities. Our fresh start journey has not been easy by any means. But we found a way to grow that tiny mustard seed, and now we are watching it bloom large in our life. And we must keep on growing and thriving. So, how do we do that?

Seven Proven Faith Possibilities

1. We are stronger than we think: we have made it this far and are in one piece.
2. We have seen the worse in someone: we know that trust is built up over time.
3. We have a clear purpose: we are starting to recognize unfulfilled dreams.
4. We know which direction to take: going forward gets us to our destination.
5. We know the risks: lack of faith in God leads to danger.
6. We recognize where faith originated: just like the wind, we can believe in Jesus.
7. We can know and trust God: the Bible teaches us how to do this very thing.

He Gets Us!

No matter how many times our human relationships have hurt or deceived us, our Lord Jesus knows our heartache and pain. He was distressed and rejected by his own friends and family. He was tormented and tortured by his enemies. He gets us!

The Bible: God's Word

Jesus loved us enough to be willing to die for us. And this is exactly why we can, with faith, believe Him and trust in Him. Now, He simply holds out His right hand to comfort and guide us on this fresh start journey.           

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes” (Mark 9:23 NLT).

What Can We Do About Stress?

"Always the wish that you may find patience enough in yourself to endure, and simplicity enough to believe; that you may acquire more and more confidence in that which is difficult. . ." (Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian Poet, 1875-1926).

This quote might have just been the perfect encouragement written on a greeting card and then given to the 515 participants of the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Surely it took lots of patience to get through the eight rounds of the competition. Finally, a fourteen-year-old boy from McKinney, Texas, Karthik Nemmani was declared the winner. With apparent courage, but maybe not as much confidence as we would think, he correctly spelled the word "koinonia." Some of us may have stumbled over our tongue trying to say, spell, or define that word which means "Christian fellowship or communion with God, or more commonly with fellow Christians." 

Patience Perfected
In our single-again lives, seems like we should each adopt the Rilke quote above as our own encouragement and read it daily. We absolutely need all the patience we can get because life has a nagging way of creating stress everywhere we turn. The woman in the elevator seems completely put together. Our neighbor is the best mom on the block. Our friend has boundless energy that we crave. We get passed over at work for a promotion because we lack certain credentials. 

The list is endless and more items are attached each day. Finances, coworkers, hunger or dehydration, needing a break, solving a personal problem, and on and on. What can we do about it? The next time you feel hands clenching, irritability, or a muscle kink in your neck, stop and try these: 

Breathe in deep and slow, then out even slower. 
Recline into a comfortable position and practice releasing tension head to toe. 
Turn on quiet, instrumental music and really listen to it. 
Be open to finding causes for the impatience.
Join a support team and call someone instead of drowning in anger.

Be a Believer
Of course, none of us will ever be perfect. We will have ups and downs, sometimes on a daily basis. Impatience and even anger are normal human traits but we don't need to let them change our core personality. The key is deciding what to do with these emotions when they invade our lives. Start with believing in yourself as a strong woman. You can do this! With that belief in place, we can decide to "boil over" with destructive emotions or get serious about managing our lives in a positive way. It's up to us. There is much you can do immediately, so click on this resource to get started: 

Mind Tools to Handle Stress

Best Seller
Did you know the very best instruction book to handle our stress, impatience, anger, difficulties, and endurance is a best seller and has never been out of print? True. Besides chapters and verses, it contains a "Help" menu in the back section. Just look up any of the above emotions and it will give you the answer to solve the problem. Amazing! It's called the Bible and is our best reference book by far!     

"May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus" (Romans 15:5 NLT).