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It’s hard to have faith when we’re in pain or life feels unfair, but if we don’t keep going, keep living life, keep trying and failing, we give God (or Good) very little to work with. Some people, when they are afraid or in pain or feel that life is unfair hide away or withdraw or try to live life as little as possible to avoid any more pain.
I understand the sentiment, particularly right now. I lost someone very, very, very dear to me quite recently and so I have been walking around on pins and needles. Every step, every breath, every hour feels painful. Undoubtedly, I have withdrawn from many things and people in my life to protect myself at this time, but I know deeply it is temporary and transformative, because I have not withdrawn from Good (or God). I’m still praying all the time, still meditating despite the heartache.
The fact of the matter is that God already helped me quite a bit in the situation, and can’t anymore. Some people just want to live in the dark. Some people make decisions from very sad or shortsighted or misguided places, and that’s one of the hardest parts of having faith. We can’t “fix” or change other people. We can’t drag, cajole, or beg them into the light with us. Sometimes we have to watch them fade away into the dark, and just pray that they someday remember their time with us as better or different, so that they search for us or at the very least they search for Good (or God) when they are ready.
Even though I am in pain, I have faith to keep me going, keep me engaged, keep me working, keep me believing in the future I envision for myself. I know many people do not have faith and they struggle with how to forge on. If you are in a particularly dark place and are feeling overwhelmed by life entirely, I encourage you to call the suicide prevention hotline at 988 or find it here online: https://988lifeline.org/. There are good people available to help at any time.
If we have enough hope to just put one foot in front of the other every day, that gives Good (or God) something to work with. Maybe we see the same person twice in one week, and follow that little synchronicity to a new job, perhaps a new career, or a new life. It doesn’t take much to change everything, particularly if we have faith and believe we just might deserve the best life has to offer.
Many of us struggle with having faith that we deserve all the good things, which is why I advocate for starting small. I believe the smallest, but most important step a person can take in a journey with faith is prayer. It’s so simple, it’s so easy, but we all struggle to do it because we think belief has to come first. In my experience, it’s just the opposite.
Prayer is the pathway to belief. Over and over again, when we have struggles, we have the opportunity to put our hands together and just pray. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it doesn’t have to be done at church, it doesn’t have to be adorned with beads or incense, it doesn’t even have to be done on our knees, but once it’s done, then we have the privilege of watching and waiting to see what God (or Good) does next.