Humans are naturally emotionally beings. All the emotions that we experience are hardwired into us by God at our creation. With that in mind, it’s important that we allow those emotions to have their proper place in our lives. While emotions are natural, it’s important that we don’t let them be the driving force in our lives. Our faith is not based on feelings but is instead built on the truth of God’s Word.
Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Do you consider yourself an emotional person? Even if your kneejerk reaction to that question is to say you’re not, you are. All of us are emotional to a certain degree. The emotions that you have inside you, happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy, enthusiasm, jealousy, and more are all placed there when you were formed in your mother’s womb. It’s not shameful to have these emotions. In fact, expressing them in a healthy manner is one of the most important parts of mental and emotional wellbeing. However, those emotions are not meant to be the driving force in our lives.
Jeremiah, a prophet who knew all about emotions (he was referred to as “the weeping prophet). In fact, as the author of Lamentations, Jeremiah wrote a very emotionally charged book of the Bible. However, he also knew the importance of keeping human emotions in their proper place. He wrote that the heart is deceitful above all things and followed that up by stating that it is desperately sick. There’s no denying it: our emotions can lead us down a dangerous path.
As God’s people, it’s important that we take a healthy approach to our feelings. However, a healthy approach to those feelings means that we keep them in line behind our faith. Our faith in God is what we know while our feelings are simply what we feel. As Christians, it’s crucial that we understand how to recognize our emotions while still living our lives according to what we know to be true about God and ourselves.
Feeling God
Luke 10:20 (TPT)
However, your real source of joy isn’t merely that these spirits submit to your authority, but that your names are written in the journals of heaven and that you belong to God’s kingdom. This is the true source of your authority.
The disciples had just come back to Jesus, and they were incredibly excited. They had been out ministering to people and realized that they had the power to cast demonic spirits out of people. Can you imagine what that would feel like? If the concept of demon possession and exorcisms makes you uneasy, let’s think about a different scenario here. What if you walked into a hospital room, laid hands on someone who was sick, prayed for them to be healed, and they were instantly restored to health? You would be overjoyed, right?! But what happens when you go into the hospital to visit someone the next time, and there is no miraculous healing?
That’s the kind of thing that Jesus was trying to keep the disciples mindful of. They were feeling enthusiastic and joyful because of a singular event. However, that meant that if that event didn’t repeat itself, they were in danger of losing that joy and enthusiasm. That’s why Jesus told them to be mindful of their real source of joy.
Have you ever heard people talking about “feeling God?” Some people believe that when they get goosebumps during a church service, they’re feeling God’s presence. Others have a more charismatic approach to feeling God. While none of these are inerrantly wrong, it’s important that we don’t get so caught up in feelings that we forget what we know.
As God’s child, your name has been written down in the journals of Heaven. On the day that you asked Christ to be your Savior, God wrote your name down in Heaven and your eternity was sealed. It’s vital that we remember that, even in the moments where we don’t tangibly feel God’s presence. One of the most important aspects of keeping faith over feelings is found in remembering that You are saved, your eternity is sealed, and God has your name in His journal, regardless of how you feel in any given moment.
A Firm Foundation
Matthew 7:24-27 (TPT)
“Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and eaves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away.”
Storms happen. No, this doesn’t mean the thunderstorms that pop up when weather conditions are perfect for them. Instead, the storms Jesus was talking about in these verses are the storms that pop up in our lives. Job losses, grief, betrayals, failed marriages, broken relationships, and other bad times can be considered different types of storms.
The homes that Jesus was talking about in these verses are our lives. When we build our lives on our emotions, it’s highly unlikely that we’re able to withstand the storms that come. Did you notice that the storms hit both homes in Jesus’ example? The home that was built on a sure foundation was hit by the same storm that hit the home built on sand.
When we build our lives on the things that we know, the storms don’t destroy our homes. Conversely, when we build our lives on our emotions, storms are much more likely to knock us down. Our foundation is not to be based on what we feel. Instead, our lives are built on the truths found in God’s Word. When we know what God says about us and our situations, we can rest in the promise that He is with us, regardless of how strong the storms are around us.
What Are You Acting On?
James 2:17-19 (TPT)
So then faith that doesn’t involve action is phony. But someone might object and say, “One person has faith and another person has works.” Go ahead and then prove to me that you have faith without works and I will show you faith by my works as proof that I believe. You can believe all you want that there is one true God, that’s wonderful! But even the demons know this and tremble with fear before him, yet they’re unchanged-they remain demons.
Ultimately, the best way to put faith over feelings is to continue to exercise our faith. If you’ve ever worked out, you know that the muscle groups that you focus on are the only ones that grow. That’s why it’s so important that you focus on different areas of your body while you’re exercising. If you spend all of your time lifting weights, your arms and upper body may grow, but your lower body will not.
If you want your faith to become a stronger force in your life, it’s important that you perform the works necessary to grow your faith. That means that you focus on growing your faith while you let emotional responses dwindle away.
It’s important that you recognize your emotions and handle them in a healthy way. However, those emotions shouldn’t be the driving force in your life. Instead, we can rest in the truths that we know about God, His Word, and His promises to us.
A Closing Prayer:
God, help me to become less focused on what I feel and more focused on what I know to be true. I know that Your Word is true, and that every promise contained in it applies to my life. Help me to remain faithful, even in the face of adversity. I ask all of this in Christ’s name, Amen.