This week, with us potentially being able to meet for an in-person service for the first time in fifteen months, I’ve been thinking about the line between feelings and faith.
During our Spiritual Depression Miniseries we said that we ought to interpret our lives based on the Bible, God’s Word to us, not interpret the Bible based on our lives. The problem with the latter is that our lives then become the ultimate test and truth of reality, rather than the Word of God. When this is the case our lives can change, our feelings can change, and we end up being blown here and there by every wind of change, often multiple times a day. This then has the potential to change who we are, and how we are. How would that have worked out for us this last year?
Think of the person interpreting their life independently, all alone, not in relation to something that never changes:
What happens when they feel abandoned and their circumstances seem to support that feeling?
What happens when they feel lost and their circumstances seem to support that feeling?
What happens when they deal with loss?
What happens when they deal with tragedy?
If we rely on feelings over faith, it’s only a matter of time before we end up in a dark place.
Tweet
There’s a part of this song that speaks to this so well:
There’s never been a moment
I was not held inside Your arms
There’s never been a day when You were not who You say You are
Despite what is going on around us, God never changes (Malachi 3.6, Hebrews 13.8).
Because God never changes, His Word to us is solid, true, and lasting (Luke 21.33).
So, when we might feel abandoned, lost, alone, or down, we can turn to the Word of God and know, for sure, that He is always there, always true, and always ready with an all consuming, heart pursuing, grace extending, never ending love.
This should define who we are, and how we are.
James Travis 