Have you ever wondered why faith is so important? After all, believing in God doesn’t stop painful events from happening in
your life. In fact, some believe that trusting in God only invites more turmoil.
When I was a little girl, I didn’t know much about formal religion and I don’t recall ever really reading the bible, but I had
this undying sense that God existed. For me, God was my protector and someone I could turn to when things went wrong in my life.
I didn’t understand who God really was. Yet, I knew that if I felt frightened, He would be there. I also knew that if I failed
at something, or hurt someone’s feelings, God would somehow give me that second chance.
As I got older, I began reading the bible more. The more I read, the more I began to understand something about faith.
Faith was not just about trusting in someone or something else, regardless of what circumstances surround us. Simply put,
faith in God is what sustains us. Faith in God gives us hope to see past the storms of life, courage to fight through those
storms, and wisdom to learn from those life altering events. Faith keeps us going, regardless of what life throws in our paths.
About five years ago, my infant daughter died in a tragic accident. In all honesty, it never should have happened, but it
did. It seemed as though I blinked my eyes and she was gone. I was mortified, grief-stricken and angrier than I have ever
been in my life. I wanted to die. I wanted to curl up in a ball and stop existing. I began to doubt my belief system,
including the fact that God actually existed. I suppose, I could not understand why God would allow such a horrible accident
to ever take place, let alone to someone as precious as an innocent child.
The more I turned my back on God, the angrier and more depressed I got. I was becoming everything I had vowed to never
be...bitter, hateful, and spiteful. I wanted so much for the pain to end, but in my eyes, the only way that would happen would
be if God turned back time and brought my child back to me. I begged him, but he didn’t seem to be listening.
Then about a month after my child died, I received a life changing phone call. A stranger from church, who had only seen me
in passing before my child’s death, saw the faith I once had and asked a task of me that altered the course of my grief-stricken
days. She asked that I remember my faith in God, so that I could help another mother who had lost her daughter to another
untimely death.
When I met with this other mother, she had never given God a second thought. She felt just as devastated, angry, and scared
as I. The only real difference seemed to be that I knew God still mattered, but I was so angry that I refused to lean on
Him and that was killing me. She, had never known God, but knew that she needed him now more than ever. She wanted to
know where her child was and she wanted strength to keep from committing suicide. Through the months that passed, we
leaned on each other, went to grief support groups together, and helped each accept God’s love. The pain was still there,
but somehow it seemed more manageable.
Holding on to that anger and denying God only seemed to make matters worse. Turning to God, even when I felt betrayed
and angry with Him, seemed to make matters better. I needed my father more than I have ever needed Him before. He was
the only father I had ever known, and the only one I had ever turned to as a child. But, the moment I needed Him the
most, I felt abandoned by Him. Not because He wasn’t there, but because I refused to let Him.
Over the next three years, I wrote letters to God. Letters that allowed my thoughts to gather, were healthier forms
of expression and kept me in constant contact with God. Letters that may have started out depressing and poignantly
painful would turn into letters of hope and encouragement as God quietly showed me the way.
Today, I still fight spurts of depression resulting from the loss of my daughter. Today, life still throws me a few curve
balls. But as long as I stay in the Word of God, trusting Him to see me through life’s storms, I will overcome the
darkness and once again see the light of a brand new morning. For today, life is better because I have faith in God.
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheDabblingMum.com,
the author of several work-from-home e-books,
a freelance writer for hire
and an artist for hire.
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