Conditional Faith Doesn't Work

To God: "God, thank you so much..."
Subconsciously: "...as long as things in my life don't change".

To God: "God, I trust you to take care of me..."
Subconsciously: "...by making sure I don't lose my job".

To God: "God, I trust in you completely..."
Subconsciously: "...as long as my friend doesn't die".

What good is conditional faith? By thinking along the lines above, we're saying to God that we only have faith in Him and praise Him when things are going our way. We put God in a little box and try to make Him fit OUR standards!

What right do we have to do that? Zero. We didn't create the entire universe, nor do we have dominion over it. We can't see God's plan for our lives from beginning to end.

That we exist, that we have people close to us, and that we have things to call our own is a gift -- everything is a gift, as everything, including ourselves, belongs to God.

Given that, we should give God praise, ALWAYS.

Given that, we should trust in God, ALWAYS.

That's a lot easier said than done. I said it, but that doesn't mean I do it -- really, I just REALIZED it. But now that I realize it, I can ask God to help me praise Him and trust in Him in all circumstances, and not allow the storms of this life to push me away from God when I need Him the most.

As usual, here is a related article I found that I thought was very good:

http://www.musings.per.sg/gallery/files/How%20to%20Praise%20God%20in%20All%20Circumstances.pdf