When we encounter challenging situations, our minds tend to focus on all the ways things might go wrong. This constant worrying can drain us, filling us with anxiety and hopelessness, and it often leads us to feel that any good outcome is impossible. With such feelings, we may even stop trying to do what is within our power, convinced that nothing we do will make a difference.
In the Bhagavad-gita (18.35), Krishna describes such despair as a state of “determination in the mode of ignorance,” where we hold on tightly to negative thoughts that prevent us from taking positive action. However, the Gita also offers a different vision—one of partnership with the divine, where we can have faith in God’s guidance and promises.
Believing in God’s promises over our worries does not mean ignoring reality or avoiding preparations for life’s challenges. Rather, it means approaching these challenges from a place of inner security, rooted in trust. We can anticipate and prepare for possible dangers while staying grounded in faith. This faith, in turn, helps us discern between remote possibilities and genuine probabilities, allowing us to focus on what truly requires our attention and action.
The choice between believing in our worries or God’s promises is essentially a choice between exhaustion and empowerment. Worry drains us, leaving us paralyzed and overwhelmed. Faith in God, on the other hand, energizes us, providing the resilience to face whatever lies ahead with clarity and strength.
Summary:
- Believing in our worries exhausts us, while faith in God’s promises energizes and empowers us.
- Trusting in God’s promises allows us to confront life’s challenges with inner security, helping us to better discern what truly requires our attention.
- Faith doesn’t mean ignoring reality but rather prepares us to address uncertainties with a more grounded perspective.
Think it over:
- Why is dismissing faith in God as irrational misguided, given the nature of worry itself?
- How is believing in God’s promises better than fixating on worries, in terms of emotional resilience?
- Consider a current challenge. How might you shift from worry to faith, focusing on God’s promises for guidance?
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18.58 If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.
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