Faith
How to have faith when everything goes wrong?
Faith doesn't require feeling certain; it requires going on. Seek community, hear those who made it through, and pair faith with one practical step a day.
When everything goes wrong, faith is often the first thing to waver. Prayer seems to go unanswered, and the question "why me?" keeps hammering. This page speaks of faith with respect for those who believe, those who doubt and those who don't believe.
What to do now
- Accept that doubt is part of it. Many religious traditions tell stories of people of faith who went through periods of silence and doubt. Doubting isn't ceasing to believe; it is often the beginning of a more mature faith.
- Go back to your community. Faith lived alone dries up fast. If you have a religious community, go back to it, even if only to listen. If you don't, look for a place where you feel respected.
- Listen to stories of people who made it through. Testimonies from ordinary people who went through the impossible have a power no speech has. They remind you that rock bottom is not the end of the story.
- Pair faith with one practical step a day. Faith sustains; the step builds. Pray, meditate or reflect, and then do one concrete thing: a call, a visit, a bill sorted out.
- Take care of the person beside you. Serving others is one of faith's oldest practices, and also one of the most effective ways out of your own hole.
- Don't trade faith for easy promises. Be wary of anyone who charges to "fix" your life, promises prosperity in exchange for money or uses faith to sell products and investments.
- Faith and care go together. If sadness has turned into hopelessness, seeking professional help is not a lack of faith. CVV at 188, free and 24 hours a day; primary health units (UBS) and psychosocial care centers (CAPS) through SUS.
When it happened to Bairo
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez says he reached rock bottom broke, broken and beaten, but still with a flame of hope and faith. There he found a door he hadn't been looking for.
In a Christian congregation, he heard accounts, stories and testimonies from ordinary people who had crossed through the impossible. Listening, he came to believe in the God of the impossible. Listening more, he came to trust in the God of love.
Faith, for him, took on a simple definition: trusting in something you cannot see. And he insists on one thing: for Bairo, whoever trusts in their God of creation is right, regardless of religious belief. The faith that held him up is not a faith that excludes.
The path
Bairo's faith didn't appear when everything was going well; it appeared when nothing was. It didn't pay the bills for him, but it gave him the strength to get up and work the next day. If you believe, let faith be the ground and work be the building. If you don't, the lesson still holds: trust in what can't yet be seen enough to take the next step.
There is also a quiet faith that needs no fine words: getting out of bed, taking care of those who depend on you and doing what needs doing even without seeing results. Many people who say they've lost their faith are actually living that discreet faith every day. Recognize it in yourself. Sometimes, carrying on is already the most sincere prayer.