Now What?
This dilemma is resolvable. The solution is simple but not effortless. It starts with clarity and decisiveness. Then what? First let’s look at examples of strong faith coupled with unbelief:
One: What if we have faith in God’s ability to help Noah build an ark, but we don’t believe He can help us build a greenhouse?
Two: What if we have faith that God loves all His children, but we don’t believe He accepts and loves us.
Three: What if we have faith that God answers other people’s prayers, but we don’t believe He answers ours.
Four: What if we have faith in miracles, but we don’t believe that we could possibly have one.
Five: What if we have faith that God will fight our battles and our children’s battles and our children’s children’s battles, but we don’t believe our children will be okay, we just keep worrying.
Perhaps faith and belief are the same thing. I am choosing to see the value of looking at them as a little different from each other. You are welcome to look at them in whatever way works for you.
The good news is that we do have strong faith already, but not as strong as it could be if we dealt with our unbeliefs. Our thoughts and beliefs are created by what we make our circumstances mean, how we view or perceive things that happen in our lives. The first step is to be very decisive about the value of becoming aware of our thoughts and beliefs; and, become very determined to discover what we are thinking/believing and determined to change erroneous/un-useful thoughts/beliefs into true/helpful ones. We must become very clear about our old thoughts and new believable thoughts. When you find a new thought that sparks and feels believable then you achieve clarity. Then practice, practice, practice the new thought/belief. Ask Heavenly Father to help your new/true thoughts/beliefs to become your new normal.
You decide what you think these scriptures mean to you:
Romans 3:3 “For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”
Matthew 13:58 “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Mark 9:24 A father wanted Jesus Christ to heal his son. He had faith enough to bring his son to be healed, yet said “Help thou mine unbelief”.
Thoughts and beliefs determine our emotions, actions and results.
Utilizing this principle has brought me greater peace and confidence. It has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father. It’s given me a fresh view about Him, myself, and the people and world around me. I’m not perfect. But that’s the point. I’ve been letting go of perfectionism and it feels a lot better.
My experience:
Much of my life I held the underlying beliefs that “the world is a scary place”, and “there is something wrong with me”. Isn’t that fascinating? I didn’t even realize it until I was middle-age-ish. It was in my subconscious. These beliefs made me feel very unsettled, even amidst strong faith and happiness. These beliefs were not all bad, because they caused me to be careful and to strive to improve myself. But, my faith grew stronger as I changed to more use-ful, more true beliefs. I now regularly talk sense into myself when I notice problem thoughts/beliefs. Here are some things I started saying to myself, repeatedly:
I am always safe.
I trust Heavenly Father.
God is able.
They (God’s helpers) that be with us are more than they that be with the “enemy”.
Awkward/uncomfortable: not a problem.
Heavenly Father is attentive, aware, available, accepting.
He is my Father. He loves me no matter what.
I am good enough.
I am on the Path and I choose to stay on it.
I like myself.
I can do all things through Christ.
Problems and weaknesses: not a big deal.
I’m going to look at things with more curiosity, less seriosity and judgment.
Negative emotions can’t hurt me. They just need a little attention and compassion, like a puppy.
I know what I want.
I like my reasons and I don’t need to explain them to everyone.
It’s awesome that others get to be their self and have their own experiences.
Whatever others think about me is okay. Their thoughts are an important part of their experience.
I love my life!
I believe deeply in the power of the Atonement of Christ.
We can increase our faith by taking a good look at our beliefs.