When Faith and Feelings Collide

Over the last few weeks I’ve had to reconcile a lot of things. Maybe attempt to reconcile them would be a better way to say it because honestly, I’m still working through all that happened in January and I’m pretty sure I will be working through it all for awhile. Things, people and the life I thought I knew and had, have all drastically changed. I shouldn’t be surprised but I’m one of those people that’s loyal to a fault. So when disappointments happen, sometimes it’s hard for me to pull myself out of the feelings and emotions of it all. Because of this, I sometimes find myself in a conflict where my faith and my feelings collide. It’s the vast chasm of my faith and what I know to be true versus my feelings.

My feelings say God has forgotten me. 

My faith says I know He will never leave me or forsake me because that’s what His word says and Jesus keeps His word.

My feelings say God isn’t for me.

My faith says God’s word tells me that if God is for me who can be against me.

My feelings say that the future looks real bleak. 

My faith says God‘s plans for me are perfect and that He is going to do even more than I can possibly fathom. 

I could go on and on with what my feelings say compared to what my faith says. The thing is, feelings, as strong as they are at times, were never meant to be dictators. God can certainly use them as indicators for various things in our life but feelings are not and were not what God intended to control our life. Simply because I feel like doing a certain thing or behaving a certain way, that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do or even the best thing to do. Feelings can’t and shouldn’t be the guiding factor for any major life decision or any random decision. Many popular speakers and authors today say that it’s okay to do what makes you happy. That you’ll be fine if you do what “feels” right. Contrary to popular opinion, there is absolutely zero Biblical precedent to live life in such a way.

When my feelings try to get the best of me, it’s my job to reign it all in. That’s when I get to measure my feelings against God’s word and what He’s saying to me. God will never lead me to do something contrary to His word.

I’m so thankful that God is big enough to handle all of our feelings and emotions. Even though my feelings are overwhelming to me, He’s not overwhelmed by them. He created me to have emotions and I’m so thankful for them because life would be so boring without them.

You know who else has emotions? God does. We were created in His image, emotions and all. I’m not, in any way, saying that feelings are bad, they just can’t dictate my life. I choose to let faith win over my feelings. It might be a daily battle right now, but it’s one I’ll win. My feelings may not being saying I’ll win but by faith, I know I’ll win because God has promised me victory. Any feeling that says otherwise, well, it’s gotta go. At the end of each day, I want to be a person of faith, not one who is swayed and tossed about by my feelings. I know God wants this for me and He wants it for you, too.

So as we begin this new week, join me as I choose to live by faith and not by feelings. Choosing God’s word and what He says over what my feelings say. It’s going to be a great week, after all, January was a really long year so there’s no where to go from here but up! 😂

Cheering you on – Heather ❤️