HOW TO OVERCOME TENSIONS AND HAVE PEACE OF MIND – Part 5
So do not anticipate trouble. This takes us to practical suggestion No. 3:
Develop faith! Cultivate faith! What is faith! Faith is not blind. Faith is seeing with the eyes of the heart. Even as, with our physical eyes, we see the beauties of the surrounding universe, even so with the eyes of the heart we see several things. Alas, with many of us, the eyes of the heart are closed. When these eyes open, we will be able to see that all that has happened has happened for the best, all that is happening is happening for the best, all that will happen will happen for the best. There is a meaning of mercy in all that happens. For God has a plan for every one of us, and there is a purpose in every little thing that happens to us. The man of faith, therefore, rejoices in everything that happens to him. He accepts everything as it comes to him, and moves on, - ever onward, forward, Godward! The great American poet, Whittier, said: “When faith is lost…the man is dead!”
There is a story of two people who were ship-wrecked. They found themselves on an island, which was uninhibited. Out of branches and leaves of trees they built for themselves a cottage. One of the two men was an unbeliever: the other was a devout soul. The latter urged that there was good in all that had happened. The unbeliever scoffed at him. But both of them managed to get along with each other.
Every day, they would go out to the sea-shore and wave their hands of handkerchiefs, in the hope that some passing steamer would view them from afar and come to their rescue. Every evening, they returned to their cottage. One evening, they found that the cottage had caught fire and had been reduced to ashes. The unbeliever cursed the elements. The man of faith said to him: “Friend, be not depressed. Surely, there must be some good in this too! God must have meant well by us!” The unbeliever felt exasperated and shouted: “You and your God! I shall have nothing to do with you both!”
However, the next morning, as they went o to seashore, they found a small steamer waiting for them. The Captain of the boat told them that the previous day he had seen smoke rising from the island which made him feel that there were some who might need his help.
Faith is seeing with the eyes of the heart. The man of faith knows that whoso surrenders himself to the Lord is always taken care of. The Lord provides where He guides. And His ways are most mysterious.
I read concerning a woman who lives in far-off England. She lost her husband and whatever little he left was spent on his funeral expenses. The widow, who had a son, had to work hard to earn her livelihood. One day, she received an old bill for a large amount. She remembered that the bill had been paid for already, but could not find the receipt. She prayed to God: “Lord! Thou knowest the bill has been paid for. If I cannot produce the receipt, I may be asked to pay the amount over again and my coffers are empty!”
A few days later, the bill-collector came and threatened to sue her in a court of law, if the amount was not paid within a week’s time. In the heart of the widow was the prayer:
Deena bandhu deenaa naath,
Meri dori tere haath!
Just then, a butterfly entered the room through a window. The widow’s son chased the butterfly. It sat on the back of a sofa and crawled underneath. The little boy wanted the butterfly, and she asked the bill-collector to help in shifting the sofa. As the old piece of heavy furniture was shifted, a slip of paper dropped down. The picked it up and her eyes were wide open with amazement, as she found that it was the receipt which she searched. God honoured her prayer. The widow prayed: O Lord! Thou art, and Thy works are ever the works of mercy!” Truly, God’s ways are most mysterious, and those that turn to Him never lack anything.
(Author: Sri J P Vaswani)
So do not anticipate trouble. This takes us to practical suggestion No. 3:
Develop faith! Cultivate faith! What is faith! Faith is not blind. Faith is seeing with the eyes of the heart. Even as, with our physical eyes, we see the beauties of the surrounding universe, even so with the eyes of the heart we see several things. Alas, with many of us, the eyes of the heart are closed. When these eyes open, we will be able to see that all that has happened has happened for the best, all that is happening is happening for the best, all that will happen will happen for the best. There is a meaning of mercy in all that happens. For God has a plan for every one of us, and there is a purpose in every little thing that happens to us. The man of faith, therefore, rejoices in everything that happens to him. He accepts everything as it comes to him, and moves on, - ever onward, forward, Godward! The great American poet, Whittier, said: “When faith is lost…the man is dead!”
There is a story of two people who were ship-wrecked. They found themselves on an island, which was uninhibited. Out of branches and leaves of trees they built for themselves a cottage. One of the two men was an unbeliever: the other was a devout soul. The latter urged that there was good in all that had happened. The unbeliever scoffed at him. But both of them managed to get along with each other.
Every day, they would go out to the sea-shore and wave their hands of handkerchiefs, in the hope that some passing steamer would view them from afar and come to their rescue. Every evening, they returned to their cottage. One evening, they found that the cottage had caught fire and had been reduced to ashes. The unbeliever cursed the elements. The man of faith said to him: “Friend, be not depressed. Surely, there must be some good in this too! God must have meant well by us!” The unbeliever felt exasperated and shouted: “You and your God! I shall have nothing to do with you both!”
However, the next morning, as they went o to seashore, they found a small steamer waiting for them. The Captain of the boat told them that the previous day he had seen smoke rising from the island which made him feel that there were some who might need his help.
Faith is seeing with the eyes of the heart. The man of faith knows that whoso surrenders himself to the Lord is always taken care of. The Lord provides where He guides. And His ways are most mysterious.
I read concerning a woman who lives in far-off England. She lost her husband and whatever little he left was spent on his funeral expenses. The widow, who had a son, had to work hard to earn her livelihood. One day, she received an old bill for a large amount. She remembered that the bill had been paid for already, but could not find the receipt. She prayed to God: “Lord! Thou knowest the bill has been paid for. If I cannot produce the receipt, I may be asked to pay the amount over again and my coffers are empty!”
A few days later, the bill-collector came and threatened to sue her in a court of law, if the amount was not paid within a week’s time. In the heart of the widow was the prayer:
Deena bandhu deenaa naath,
Meri dori tere haath!
Just then, a butterfly entered the room through a window. The widow’s son chased the butterfly. It sat on the back of a sofa and crawled underneath. The little boy wanted the butterfly, and she asked the bill-collector to help in shifting the sofa. As the old piece of heavy furniture was shifted, a slip of paper dropped down. The picked it up and her eyes were wide open with amazement, as she found that it was the receipt which she searched. God honoured her prayer. The widow prayed: O Lord! Thou art, and Thy works are ever the works of mercy!” Truly, God’s ways are most mysterious, and those that turn to Him never lack anything.
(Author: Sri J P Vaswani)
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