I look around at the world these days and I’m often just taken by the chaos that we’re seeing. There are wars breaking out in a multitude of nations with no sign of ending. There are so many senseless deaths, so much loss of life. There is so much hurt, so much pain, so much grief. There are people who have no sense of morality doing what they think is ‘right.’ So much greed, so much selfishness, so much destruction.

I think it can be so easy to be overwhelmed by the evil and the hurt that has infiltrated and infested our world. Given we live in the world, we are inevitably going to be privy to what is occurring whether we like it or not. And we cannot necessarily stop it from happening. After all, this is a fallen world. There will always be evil dwelling within it, as our concupiscence makes us vulnerable to sin.

I think this is why faith is such a critical element for all human beings to possess.

The world can be so depressing, so disheartening, and can really make us feel so small and insignificant. But we are so much more than just pawns in someone else’s game. We are God’s creatures. Each one of us was fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator in His own image. How incredible is that, right?

But when we are placed on this earth to live out our earthly lives, God does not control us like a puppet-master. Each one of us is given free will. We are all given the choice to turn towards God and follow Him, or turn away from Him. Our decisions in this life ultimately impact our final, eternal destination in the life to come.

So we can choose to have faith, or we can choose to live without it. But why would we want to live without something that is so incredibly beautiful and enriching?

Faith is quite literally having complete trust or confidence in someone or something. When we have faith, we place our trust entirely in God. We are confident that He will listen to us, that He will hear our prayers, and that He will guide us throughout our lives, leading us to the places that we need to be and the people that we need to have by our side on the journey.

I have wondered on many occasions why people would choose not to have faith, or even why people might lose it. While there are many reasons that an individual may not have faith or may have lost it over time, there is one that comes to the forefront.

I think something people can really struggle with when it comes to faith are the evils of this world. Often, I think it comes down to something like this: If God exists, and if He is so good, why is evil allowed to exist in the world?

The answer to this question can get very complex, but I think it all boils down to one thing: choice.

Evil was brought into the world by a choice made by Adam and Eve to disobey God’s one and only Commandment that He gave to them. At this point, when they were cast out of the beautiful Garden of Eden, God could have just left humanity to their own devices to die off and then try again with a different creation.

Yet, instead, he continued to pursue us. He planned out a way to bring us back to Him. He devised a method for our salvation. God did not have to send His Only Son down to Earth to live among us and then be tortured and die a horrible death. He could have given up on us and spared Jesus Christ from his Passion. But He did not. He loves us all so much that He offered up His Son as a perfect sacrifice so that we would be able to have the opportunity to live in eternal joy and glory with Him in His Kingdom. He wanted us to be able to enter His Heavenly home.

Again, we have the choice to choose good or evil. One of the beauties of faith, however, is that even if we choose evil we can still turn back to God. He wants us to run back to Him like the Prodigal Son ran back to his father. When one of His flock goes astray, He will not give up on us, but will pursue us until He has found us and brought us back into the sheepfold.

The great beauty of faith is that even with everything that is going on around us, even in our darkest moments, there is always someone there that we can turn to. It doesn’t matter where we are, what we are doing, who we are with, or what time of the day it is. He is there waiting for us to talk to Him. It doesn’t matter how far we have fallen or how broken we are. He is there ready to pick us back up and help us to get through whatever challenges we are facing.

Even when the world is so bleak, when wars are being fought, when lives are being lost, when society is so broken and we are so uncertain of what the future holds, faith can provide steady ground to stand upon.

I can attest to this. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. There was a time just a few years ago when I was really struggling with a lot of things. Even though I wasn’t exactly the most devout Catholic at the time, I credit my faith with getting me through that dark period in my life. If I didn’t have my faith, I’m not sure what I would have done, or where I would have ended up. I doubt I would have had the motivation to write something like this.

Praise be to God for getting me through that so I could be here at this point in my life writing this reflection on faith.

I’m sure we have all faced difficult times in our lives. It might have been a tough decision we had to make. We might have battled inner demons and struggled with mental illness. We may have had to deal with addiction, loss, pain, heartache, heartbreak, or even death. We may have struggled to understand why something is happening to us, or even where God is taking us. Some of us might even be experiencing some of these things right this very moment.

These times in our lives are when faith can be the difference between enduring and giving in. Again, we have a choice. We can either give in to all the pressures we are facing and end up letting them define us, or we can have faith that God will get us through what we are going through and endure it, knowing that it will not last forever.

I think something that all Christians must bear in mind is that God isn’t necessarily going to answer our prayers straight away. He might not even answer them in the way we are hoping He will. But, as I noted in my reflection on God’s perfect timing, He will answer them. We just need to have faith that He will and persist in prayer.

I think it is also important to remember that there are probably going to be times when you start to question your faith. This is part of the journey of Christian life. When this does happen, it often helps to consider what your life would be like without your faith. Chances are it’s not going to be much better, if at all, than living with faith.

Just look at Peter. When Jesus called to His Disciple in the boat and told him to step out from the boat and walk across the water to Him, Peter began to undertake this task. But as he began to lose faith that he could actually walk on the water and fear began to creep in, he began to sink into the lake.

‘Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:31-33)

Even when they doubted, even when they were struggling with their faith, Jesus was still there to help His Disciples. And they praised Him for it, their faith strengthening.

God will answer that prayer at the time that you really need it. I have attested to this in my reflections over the past few days, and I will continue to attest to it and praise God for it in many more to come.

Faith is such a beautiful thing to have. As the storm of the world rages around us, it is like a lifeboat keeping us afloat just enough to keep us going until the storm passes.

So keep the faith. Maintain it. Nurture it. Allow it to grow, to consume you. Allow the Holy Spirit to ignite a fire within you. And allow Him to work through you. Share the faith with others and help each other to grow in your faith.

Glory to God for giving us the faith and allowing us to grow in love for Him. He is so, so good to us.