Why Do I Need to Have Faith?

How real is your faith? What a question and one that is so important! I've been reminded lately that faith is our choice.  It's not easy to trust God at all times, it's easy to say we trust Him and deep down I know that we know He is always right and good. However trusting Him is something you must consciously choose to do every day, in every moment.  God cares about so many things in our lives, even the really simple things.  I love that He cares so much about me and you! He knows our favorite color, what we enjoy, and He enjoys blessing us.  It takes faith to believe that God cares, it takes faith to accept God's blessings, acknowledge that He was the Giver, and be thankful for the blessings. It also takes faith when things don't seem to go our way.  Recently, I've encountered a situation that didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, didn't go according to the way I would've written the script. Those are the moments when you must thank God in faith, knowing that His will and His way is better than ours.  Those are the moments when trust seems unnatural, but oh the feeling of relief when you just trust God! I've also noticed that bringing the situation to God, thanking Him for the good things, thanking Him for the way things turned out, and thanking Him for His sovereignty and perfect plan (even when the situation turned out not as you had hoped for) brings great relief and peace! He promises peace and He never forgets a promise.  God's got the master plan, while we can only see the here and the now.  God can see tomorrow, next week, next year, and into eternity.  He's not out to ruin your life, actually He's making it better and He wants our lives to be the best they can be! John 10:10 says, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." I think as Christians, we know all of these things, and its easy to say "oh yeah, that's true, I believe that"! But really, we need to think in every situation about how much God cares and how perfect His way is! Another area I've been reminded of recently is thanking God in advance.  Almost like being so sure things are going to work out, that you are praying/praising in advance for the turnout.  That takes faith too, to believe God enough to praise Him for what you cannot see.  (Here's an example, let's say someone is having surgery.  You could praise God for His protection, peace, and the outcome, even before the surgery.) Of course, things do not always work the way we intended them to, and that's where we have to praise God for letting His will be done.  However, praying in advance will help bring peace and be a reminder that our God is able.  So why do you need to have faith? Well here's the simple solution, "It's impossible to please God without faith"(Hebrews 11:6).  How can you live without faith? Life would be so despairing without faith.  Trusting God is a major step in enjoying life to the fullest. So, how's your faith?