There comes a point when you have:
Thought.
Worked.
Asked.
Tried.
Adjusted.
Done everything reasonably available to you.
Now what?
Sometimes the next thing you need is not another action.
It is FAITH.
I am a firm believer that even inside difficult circumstances there can be:
Meaning.
Learning.
Growth.
A solution.
An unexpected opening.
Or an ending we could not see while standing in the middle of the problem.
I have come to believe there are few things in life that are completely wasted if we are willing to learn from them.
Would I prefer God to send me an Angel with written instructions?
YES.
A dream would work too.
Something like:
“Richie, here is exactly what is happening and here is what you should do next.”
Very convenient.
Unfortunately, life does not always operate that way.
Sometimes we have to walk through the thing before we understand what it was doing there.
THERE IS A RHYME AND A REASON
That is how I choose to approach problems.
I want to understand them.
Not because I enjoy trouble.
Because I know something else needs to happen after trouble arrives:
RESPONSE.
Problem?
Fine.
What exactly is it?
What caused it?
What part belongs to me?
What can I change?
What can I repair?
What can I learn?
Once I understand the problem, I can begin looking for the solution.
BAD NEWS FIRST
When someone tells me:
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”
My answer is usually:
GIVE ME THE BAD NEWS.
Why?
The good news can sit there for a minute.
It will be fine.
The bad news is the squeaky wheel.
It needs attention.
If something is broken…
LET’S LOOK AT IT.
If something is wrong…
LET’S IDENTIFY IT.
If something needs fixing…
LET’S GET STARTED.
Ignoring the bad news does not improve it.
Facing it might.
GOOD NEWS HOLDS ITS OWN
Good news operates under different dynamics.
You can enjoy it later.
Celebrate.
Laugh.
Give thanks.
But the problem is asking something from you NOW.
That is why I tend to go toward it.
Not run from it.
USE THE LEMONS.
USE THE RESISTANCE.
USE THE PROBLEM.
There may be something inside it you need.
EXPERIMENT WITH WHAT WORKS
Not everyone approaches life this way.
Fine.
This is what I have practiced.
When something works…
I remember it.
When something does not work…
I learn from that too.
Trial and error.
Adjust.
Try again.
Keep what works.
Discard what does not.
Life itself becomes the laboratory.
But eventually every experiment reaches a point where you have done what you can.
That is where another dynamic becomes important.
FAITH.
MANKIND WAS NOT PUT HERE TO BE DEFEATED
I do not believe we were created merely to be knocked down and stay there.
Life contains resistance.
That does not automatically mean the resistance is punishment.
Sometimes resistance develops capacity.
Muscles need resistance.
Character often does too.
You discover things about yourself only after something asks more from you than yesterday did.
Patience.
Endurance.
Courage.
Judgment.
Faith.
Those things usually need conditions in which to operate.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS
We say:
THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
Easy sentence when everything is fine.
Much harder when you are actually IN the thing.
That is when the statement gets tested.
You are not merely repeating words anymore.
You are being asked:
DO YOU BELIEVE THIS MOMENT IS THE WHOLE STORY?
That is different.
Faith says:
NO.
This is a chapter.
Not necessarily the book.
WHY DO THINGS HAPPEN?
I have asked that question countless times.
WHY?
Sometimes the answer becomes obvious.
Sometimes much later.
Sometimes I still do not know.
And that has taught me something important.
Faith does not require that I understand everything before I continue.
If I understood everything…
I would not need faith.
THE BULLFIGHTER
How does someone become skilled at confronting difficult bulls?
Not by reading about them forever.
Eventually they have to enter the arena.
Practice.
Learn movement.
Timing.
Distance.
Respect the danger.
Develop skill.
What once produced fear eventually becomes something they know how to face.
Life has arenas too.
You do not learn courage entirely in comfort.
You learn some of it when something intimidating enters the ring.
THE CLIMBER
Same with rock climbers.
Nobody starts on the most difficult mountain.
First:
Practice.
Low wall.
Mat underneath.
Hands get tired.
Muscles complain.
Technique is poor.
Then you return.
Again.
And again.
Eventually the body learns.
The mind learns.
Confidence grows from EXPERIENCE.
Then the slope that once looked impossible becomes manageable.
Not because the mountain got smaller.
YOU GOT STRONGER.
FAITH DOESN’T REMOVE THE MOUNTAIN
This is important.
Faith does not always remove the challenge.
Sometimes faith changes the person climbing it.
That may be the miracle.
We often pray:
REMOVE THIS.
Maybe the answer becomes:
I WILL HELP YOU THROUGH THIS.
Not the answer we requested.
Perhaps the answer we needed.
IF YOU HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE…
WHY NOT TRY FAITH?
But I want to be clear.
Faith should not become the excuse we use BEFORE doing what we can.
Do your homework.
Make the call.
Get the information.
Seek competent help.
Fix what belongs to you.
Apologize if necessary.
Work.
Prepare.
Act.
Fight the good fight.
Then when you have honestly reached the edge of your control…
STOP TRYING TO CONTROL EVERYTHING.
That is where faith becomes beautiful.
DO WHAT YOU CAN… THEN REST
This may be one of the hardest disciplines.
You have done what you can.
Still you worry.
Rehearse.
Recalculate.
Replay.
Imagine.
At some point, none of that is producing anything new.
Then perhaps the next act is:
REST.
Not surrendering to defeat.
Surrendering the illusion that YOU personally control every variable.
There is a difference.
FAITH WORKS WHEN YOUR HANDS STOP
You can plant.
Water.
Tend.
Protect.
But you cannot pull on the plant and make it grow faster.
Something happens beyond your direct command.
That is a useful picture of faith.
Do your portion.
Then allow what is beyond your portion to operate.
THE ENDING IS NOT ALWAYS YOUR ENDING
Sometimes we decide in advance what a “good result” must look like.
This job.
That person.
This amount of money.
That exact outcome.
Then when something else happens, we call it failure.
Careful.
Maybe the ending you demanded was not the only good ending available.
Faith leaves room for an outcome you did not design.
That can be difficult.
But it can also be liberating.
GOD’S WILL IS NOT MY WILL WEARING A HALO
This is something worth remembering.
Faith is not saying:
“God will make everything happen exactly the way I want.”
That is not surrender.
That is trying to use God as another form of control.
For me, faith says:
I will do what I believe is right.
I will use what I have been given.
I will ask.
Seek.
Knock.
Work.
Then I will remain open to God’s will being larger than my plan.
That is harder.
And deeper.
YOU MAY UNDERSTAND IT LATER
There have been circumstances in life that made little sense while I was inside them.
Later…
Something became visible.
A relationship changed.
A lesson emerged.
A better direction appeared.
A weakness became strength.
Would I have chosen the problem?
Probably not.
Can I now see something that came from it?
Sometimes absolutely.
That is why I hesitate to judge the entire meaning of an event while still standing in the middle of it.
THE STORY MAY NOT BE FINISHED.
FINAL THOUGHT
Faith is not doing nothing.
Faith begins AFTER you have honestly done what belongs to you.
Think.
Work.
Ask.
Seek.
Correct.
Prepare.
Act.
And when your hands have finally reached the limit of what they can do…
OPEN THEM.
You do not have to hold the whole universe together.
It was operating before you arrived.
It will continue operating after you leave.
Sometimes the strongest thing a person can say is:
I HAVE DONE MY PART.
NOW I WILL TRUST.
Faith works…
Even when you don’t.
PEARLS INSIGHT
Faith can provide psychological and spiritual resilience when people face uncertainty that cannot be completely solved through personal effort. Healthy faith does not replace responsible action, planning, professional help, or problem solving. Instead, it can help a person tolerate uncertainty, release excessive attempts at control, remain open to unexpected outcomes, and continue functioning while circumstances unfold.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
A recurring principle throughout Pearls for the Soul is:
SEEK.
ASK.
KNOCK.
Those are ACTION words.
Faith does not tell us to sit in the corner and wait for life to happen.
It tells us to move with what we know…
And trust when we reach what we do not know.
Do your part.
Then leave room for something greater than yourself.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This Pearl connects directly with:
BELIEVING WITHOUT SEEING… IS CALLED FAITH
USE PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES AND SURPRISES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
and
LEMONS OF LIFE = LEMONADE
One teaches us to move without seeing the entire road.
One teaches us to use resistance as training.
One teaches us to turn adversity toward something useful.
This Pearl completes the sequence:
DO EVERYTHING THAT IS YOURS TO DO…
THEN TRUST WHAT ISN’T.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Got a problem?
LOOK AT IT.
Bad news?
GIVE IT TO ME FIRST.
Something needs doing?
DO IT.
But when you have called, worked, planned, corrected, tried, adjusted and honestly reached the end of your part…
STOP DIGGING ANOTHER HOLE CALLED WORRY.
You did your work.
Now let faith do some.
FINAL SAY
Faith is not the absence of effort.
It is what remains when effort reaches its proper limit.
The climber still climbs.
The fighter still enters the arena.
You still do your work.
But somewhere along the journey you discover:
YOU ARE NOT CARRYING EVERYTHING ALONE.
And that realization can turn fear into rest.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
pearlsforthesoul.com
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