Certainty

So, my word for the year is "faith."As I was thinking about it the other day I was trying to reconcile the idea of being right when it comes to having faith.  Faith is believing something will happen or believing things will be ok even if you aren't sure of the outcome.  Faith is peace.  Peace of mind.  Peace in our hearts that the future is not as scary as it might seem.  Peace that we can overcome even if it turns out as scary as it seems.  Peace = Faith.Does this mean that what we anticipate for the future must be right in order to have faith?  This is what I was trying to work through in my mind because even when I have faith in something, it often doesn't turn out the way I thought it would.  Did that mean I wasn't right in what I had faith about?It occurred to me that being right is different than being certain.  Hmmm....being certain.  I like that.  Two words that appear to mean the same thing as being right but upon further contemplation, are not the same at all.  Being right is so black and white.  You either are or you're not.  There is not much room for gray and as we all know, life is made up of all the shades of gray.Being certain, however, invokes something different.  It is the essence of faith - feeling conviction about something even though we are unsure if that something will actually become reality.  Being certain lives in the gray area.  It gives room for change and leaves space for adaptability - the things that life is all about.I have faith.  Does that mean I am always right when I think about what is to come?  Hardly.  But I can always be certain.  Certain that we can manage it.  Certain that our strength is greater than our circumstances.  Certain that we can be happy in spite of it all.That is faith.  Of this I am certain.