Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

“Faith can only grow from within, it can not be acquired vicariously. Nothing great in this world was ever accomplished without a living faith.” – Mahatma Gandhi

The belief in invisible and intangible power that hold control over everything including the body and mind is the supreme intelligence. The believer will call it faith in God whereas for the non believer that is miracle. The mysteries of this world and beyond are difficult to be understood by mere mental speculation. One need to surrender completely to the higher power, God or Universe whatever we may call him.

In the materialistic world we are living today, most of the men are running just after pieces of silver and gold. They take great pride in their abilities and think themselves to be the creator of their world. But there are times when they get entangled in the turbulence of this world and in spite of all their capabilities intact, they are unable to keep a grip on situations. Those are the time they start looking for help and the seed of faith germinates as interest in spiritual activities.

Very few people get inclined towards faith when all is well. Only in the face of adversity they remember their creator. When they face pain, first an interest is developed and which gets strengthened with each passing day as they realize that there are numerous situations they don’t have any control and they could rely only on God. Slowly and gradually they mellow down and start on the path of acceptance and understanding.

The path of developing faith will start from a preliminary desire for self realization. Thereafter people try to associate with spiritually elevated devotees or Gurus and under their guidance process of development of devotional service towards God begins. As the person start getting free from material attachments the transcendental love for God replaces this.

This faith transforms individual’s life and the common activities of yesterday are replaced with the feeling of joy and happiness. Faith becomes the building block of creation. It develops the person’s strength of character. He start to have trust in God and his willingness to help. The person develops patience and understands that God is letting him struggle only to grow and mature.

We get confident knowing we are becoming what we have to. There is no wrong path and the strength comes from understanding that God is guiding us to our destiny. The truth that material things do not produce happiness and satisfaction becomes more clear by the day. God only uses our faith to mold our character. We may not be able to see the reason of the things which are happening but start understanding that it is a purposeful universe and all that happens is for a reason.

Faith gives us the power of humility. We get the knowledge that whatever we are doing we need not worry about the fruitive results. We can control only our efforts and we need to perform our actions in the spirit of service to the God. At all times we should avoid sins and transgression and believe that God will protect us.

If you are facing tough times keep your faith on God who is the source of all strength. You are not a mere body, you are part and parcel of all powerful, all pervading God himself. No matter what you are going through remember no situation is difficult for the Lord and he will never abandon you.

Related article: Happiness and Distress