Faith, hope and love

People think I’m an optimist as I always see the good in everyone and each situation. But I’m beginning to wonder if actually I’m naturally a pessimist, and it’s just that I force myself to seek out the hope, the learning, as that seems the best way to grow?

When I first became a parent, some of the challenges seemed immense and I remember telling myself over and over as a survival tactic “it’s not going to last forever.” And I was right, those challenges have changed over time and what I found hard in the first few weeks became bearable or the problem went away and new challenges came and each time I rose to them and got through them.

Maybe this is what faith is. When I can’t in the present imagine a time when the challenge will have been overcome, because I’m still living it, it’s having the faith that I will come out the other side. Last night I wondered if I’m just kidding myself, that for all my trying to see the positive, I can’t change the outcome – positivity can’t raise the dead! That I need to accept situations as they are instead of keeping on hoping for the best. But I think that’s the point isn’t it. I can’t change what happens, I can only change how I react to it. What a situation “is” is partly how I feel about it, so I can choose to see it as a stumbling block or a stepping stone. Loss remains real and grieving for the loss makes sense rather than denying it. But it is never The End.

My belief structure isn’t one that says God has a plan and is in control, so my faith isn’t about trusting that “He knows what he’s doing”. My faith is in a loving God, and so the trust is that love remains. These challenges and doubts too will pass, and love will still be there.