Baba says, ‘There is no need for you to give the Father your own directions‘. He Himself gives you directions.

It’s easy to trust God when things are going my way, that doesn’t take much faith. Life is good! But what about when things aren’t going my way- that situation at work isn’t going away, my circumstance at home isn’t changing. I’ve spoken to God about it and yet, nothing happens. Then what? It’s easy to get discouraged and question God’s faithfulness: ‘Baba, why aren’t You doing something? You can see I’m clearly being mistreated!’ I sulk with God. How can I be happy unless things change?!

That’s conditional faith, conditional love. I’m telling God that if He meets my demands, when I want Him to, then I’ll be happy, then I’ll have faith, then I’ll love Him. Until then, I feel I’m justified to feel and act crappy. But faith, by definition, is trusting when I don’t see, it is trusting God when life doesn’t make sense.

Often I tell God exactly what to do, when to do it, whom to use to get it done…I have all the details worked out, now all that remains is for God to wave His magic wand! God, turns out, does not take orders from me! He is a Sovereign Maker, He is making me into the kind of person that does not need to take orders or even advise! He, therefore, does not need to be told how to do something or when to do it. His ways are His ways! I have given Him my life, now let me be a trustee. He knows me better than I do. He can see things in me that I don’t even know. His plan for my life is bigger than anything I can ever imagine. And it may not happen the way I thought. Do I have the maturity to accept that?, to understand that life is not a straight line? There are always twists and turns, there are betrayals and mistakes, there are bad decisions…but faith is to know that they are all part of the journey to get to my destination. Nothing in the drama that comes to a Brahmin is useless.

But when I lack faith, when things don’t work out as expected, I think I’m going the wrong way! Let me not forget that God is still in charge. The Father says, ‘I change you from shells into diamonds. Shiv Baba does all of this through Brahma. He is Karankaravanhar‘. Baba always does His work in the darkness, when things are not working out. That’s when He’s growing me up, my faith is being increased, my character is being developed. Sometimes, it might just be that it is not the right timing. I might not see anything change externally with the situation, but there is a lot happening internally. Faith is when I can say: yes, this is hard, it’s uncomfortable but I know there is benefit in this for me. If there wasn’t, God would not have allowed it. He is still in control of my life and is taking me down the best path.

But sometimes I want something so bad, I can’t be happy unless it happens my way. That’s backwards, that’s Maya at work! Anything I ‘have to have’ in order to be happy is Maya’s way to keep me upset, unhappy, living life disappointed. It’s okay to talk to God about what’s on my mind- tell Him what I’m hoping for. He is my Friend, my Companion, my Father. But then, let me also have the maturity to not latch on to my opinion, let me not be set in my ways. My love for my Friend, for my Father, for my Companion, cannot hinge on my demands being met. I love Him whether He takes me out of the storm or whether He takes me through the storm.

Let me stop battling and living frustrated, and embrace where I am right now. Let me learn that contentment is an attitude of being full despite the circumstances, it is in my hands. When I am content, when I am living joyfully, when I keep my zeal and enthusiasm intact despite everything going on, I am showing my trust in God, in His plan and in His timing. I am passing the test. I am showing that I understand the knowledge of the drama- that it is pre-destined. What is in my fortune is not going anywhere! I don’t have to help God by trying to make things happen, I don’t have to knock on doors, manipulate people, strategize or hustle, I have to remain still and trust God and His timing. I might not see it now but eventually I will be glad that things didn’t work out as I had hoped. His plans are always better than mine!

This is also true surrender. Can I place my dreams, my hopes, my desires in His hands? Can I be my best, do the right thing when it’s hard? Can I continue to follow His directions- remain sweet, charitable no matter what? Everything I have is Yours, says Baba. I don’t take anything from you and hold on to it. I give a multi-million fold return. He takes the impure ‘mine’, spiritualizes it and returns it to me pure, powerful.

All of you are children. Shiv Baba is very well known. Whatever directions He gives and whatever He does is right.