Q: Please speak about faith and the role it plays in the human experience.
A: Faith, as you know, is the thing you cannot see. It is that which propels you forward when the path is unknown. When you feel uncertain, or when you desire something, but you know not how it will come, faith is the energy that inspires you to act. It is the energy that says, “I feel this is the correct way forward—the way that is most in alignment with my highest good.”
Where does faith originate? It stems from that part of you that is always connected to Spirit. The part of your Being that dwells in the higher dimensions—your Higher Self—is not separate from Spirit. Your physical self is also not separate from Spirit, but the veil of separation in the earth plane leads you to feel that it is. However, there remains a thread of connection that passes though the veil and connects your physical self with your Higher Self. The thread has at various times on this planet been both wider and narrower than it is today. At this time, it is widening for all humanity due to the expansion of the human consciousness, which is the result of your collective choice to anchor and express more love in the world.
The thread, which is often called ‘the silver cord’, constantly flows the understanding to you that you are much bigger and more expansive in the non-physical than you are in the physical. That steady but quiet knowing is why almost everyone on the planet believes in a Higher Source, regardless of whether you are Spiritual or not. Most of you believe you are a part of something bigger because the thread ‘streams’ the understanding of that Truth to you. For some, the understanding may go no further. Others desire to know where the thread leads and to widen it in order to increase the flow. That leads you to pursue what you call a Spiritual path, and that’s when faith becomes a powerful tool to assist you on your journey.
Faith is a Powerful Tool
Think for a moment about all the tools in a standard household toolbox, such as hammers, screwdrivers, saws, and paint brushes. They can assist you in many important tasks, but the tools are only valuable if you know how to use them properly. Have you ever seen somebody try to sink a nail with the fat end of a screwdriver, or use a hammer to drive a screw? Ever done that yourself? In either case you may get some degree of success, but you won’t get nearly the results you would if you used the tool correctly for its intended purpose. That’s how it is with faith.
The primary purpose of faith is to remind you that you are a magnificent being with a tremendous capacity to feel and express love, joy, compassion and all the higher qualities Divine Spirit embodies. Faith reminds you that you are all those things in the non-physical, and that the reason for your being in the physical is to remember this Truth and live your life as an expression of it. Now, the challenges of day-to-day life on the planet certainly can make it seem like you or your neighbor are anything but all those wonderful things. We understand that, and that is precisely why Spirit has provided you with the tool of faith. It’s all by design, you see? Your Source who loves you dearly and created you and everything else in this Universe would never place you into a challenging circumstance without also giving you the tools you need to succeed. The tool of faith is a precious gift that can be a very powerful ally in the face of life’s challenges.
Practicing Faith
The first step in using faith properly is to know that it is always with you. It literally is a tool you can’t put down. You cannot be detached from it any more than you can you can be detached from your capacity to reason. You can, however, ignore it, the same as you can ignore reason. How many times have you made a choice that was the opposite of what sound judgment and good reason told you was correct—perhaps because of somebody else’s influence? In those times, your reason didn’t leave you, you just ignored it for a while. In a like manner, faith never leaves you, but you can certainly ignore its presence. When you find yourself thinking thoughts like, “I just don’t see how the world is getting any better” or “I don’t know if there really is a God” or “I don’t think anybody really cares about me or my problems” or “I don’t know if there is any point to my life,” those are the times when you are ignoring the existence of your inherent faith.
We understand how that happens. The world is full of challenges, and you can’t see, touch, smell, hear, or taste this tool we are telling you is always there. But neither can you see your thoughts, love, or oxygen, and yet you believe in them 100%. Why? Because you experience those things in your world, and thus your experience validates their reality. Faith is a little trickier, for sure. After all, you don’t consciously choose to breathe oxygen—it’s a physical imperative. In addition, everybody loves someone or something, even if it’s only an object or money. And just try to stop thinking and see how long you last.
Faith is easier to ignore than these things because your human logic can easily deny it when there are so many other options that humans have created and modeled for you throughout your life. For example, say you try to manifest something and it doesn’t go the way you want. You can probably come up with a whole big list of reasons why, as well as other people to blame, rather than accepting that everything in your experience is there through your own choosing. That’s when the thoughts like, “I’m no good”, “nobody cares”, or “it’s their fault” show up. These negative, self-deprecating thoughts get in the way of your faith because they lower your vibration overall, moving you further from a state of self-love and more toward a state of fear. That kind of energy is chaotic to your soul, which is always aligned with the vibration of love. It’s like throwing all your tools around your workshop. How can you find your hammer if all your tools are strewn about and lying on top of each other?
So, again, the first step is to recognize that you always have faith in the same way that you always have love and oxygen. The thread of connection with your Higher Self simply cannot be destroyed.
The next step is to practice using your faith as often as you can. Sometimes it’s very easy because life is humming along just fine. That’s when you think, “The Universe must really like me because everything is going my way.” But when you seem to not be getting the results you seek, you may begin to doubt you are the magnificent being you really are. You may think, “The Universe is against me” or “I have made mistakes” or “I’m not worthy”. What we want you to know is that those challenging times offer you the greatest opportunity to master faith. They are the times when you are called upon to boldly express your belief in your absolute connection to All That Is. In so doing, you widen the thread.
Think again about those household tools. Most people can do basic things with them. For example, almost anyone can use a brush to paint a wall or hammer a nail to hang a picture. Many people can slap together a basic book shelf made of wood. But there few among you who can take those tools and create objects of refined beauty and workmanship—objects that become prized and valuable—objects that many seek to possess. You call those rare few “MASTER craftspeople”.
Now, what do you call those rare few on your planet who live in a constant state of alignment with Source Energy—those who offer only love, compassion, and joy? You call them “Master”. Their wisdom is prized and valuable, and many of you seek to possess it. Coincidence? No. It is the way of things. Friends, you are all masters. Every one of you. The one who realizes their mastery on the earth plane is the one who operates all the time from a vibration of Divine Love. What’s more, every one of those enlightened ones you call “Master” learned to use and apply the tools given by Spirit through lifetimes of practice.
Mastering Faith
Master woodworkers do not attain their level of proficiency by shying away from new challenges. They get there by seeking the challenges, applying what they already know, and stretching themselves to uncover new abilities. They get there by doing what is difficult the first time—maybe even the first few times. But eventually, with experience, what was once challenging becomes easy.
It is the same with mastering faith. Remember that this powerful tool is always there for you, and that you already know how to use it. Then wield this mighty tool—this gift of Spirit—when the challenges come. In time, they will not seem difficult. The circumstances may be the same every time, but your confidence in meeting them will be so strong that they will not trouble you as they once did.
Have faith in your undeniable, always-on connection to Spirit, and have faith that through this connection you can know, achieve and receive all things that are relevant to your life path. With consistent practice, that connection will expand so that even greater levels of knowingness can be revealed. This does not mean life will be free of challenges. But life can be free of the negative emotion and accompanying results that arise when challenges cause you to ignore your faith. Faith is the tool that smooths the rough edges, makes the snug fittings, and polishes everything up for a prized result. When you can do that every time, you will be known as “Master”.
Image credit: Skeeze