We walk.....we move....we live.....we make our decisions...we function every day in one of two ways....
By sight....
Or by faith....
Scripture confirms which approach to life we should take.
II Corinthians 5:7
We walk by faith and not by sight.
The Message Bible puts it like this: It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going.
Simple truth....if we claim to be a follower of Jesus, we live by faith.
We no longer can claim to operate by our senses alone. In fact, living by my senses got me into the mess that brought me to Jesus for salvation. Me trying to be the captain of my ship. Never mind that I had dashed the ship to pieces on the rocks of life. I was at the helm following what I thought to be the right path.
Lot of talk about faith. Lot's of people all up into faith. Great word "faith". It brings peace to some. But there is another word that creeps into this equation of living by faith that destroy's all peace and seeks to rule our hearts. What word would that be? Feelings.
You don't measure faith by how it 'feels'. You don't say that you're living by faith, when in fact you are on the roller coaster of feelings. The two do not, nor will they ever harmonize. It just isn't going to happen, yet this whole "feelings" thing has derailed many a follower of Jesus. We so desperately want feelings and faith to work hand in hand. To bring some assurance to us (through out feelings) when we are moving in faith. Well I can only speak for myself, but feelings are not a measure for how much faith you have. Faith that God is who He claims to be...Faith that He will do what He has promised to do is not bound or defined by my feelings.
My feelings can be sky high or down in the deepest pits and neither place is a measure of how great my God is. Feelings only serve to let me see and understand exactly how much more I need to have faith in God than to rely on my own senses (or feelings).
According to Hannah Whitall Smith's writing in the book I am currently going through (and quiet slowly might I add) is that, as human's, we have a hard time in relation to God because we want to "feel "that everything is right and amen. We cannot believe we are saved until we "feel" like we are. We cannot accept the fact that we are forgiven of sin until we "feel" like we've been forgiven. And because we do not "feel" these things, we cannot believe that God has taken us in hand and is leading us forward. Even though the truth of Scripture contradicts what we are feeling, we have a tendency to reject the truth and fall upon the sword of our feelings. Now I love it when my feelings line up with what Scripture says....and I experience this wonderful bliss of being in tune with what God is doing. But following by faith has to be the first and only measure of my choices, not my feelings.
The one thing that caught my eye in all of this is how she frames the way we approach life.
Hanna Whitall Smith wrote, "As usual, we put feelings first, and faith second, and the fact (or truth) last of all." We fail to grasp the simple understanding that God's unchanging rule in everything is Fact First.....Faith Second....and Feelings last of all.
She goes on to write "We must believe before we feel, and often against our feelings,if we would honor God by our faith." Such is the life that you and I have been called to.
A life of faith....
Not one ruled by our feelings.
God on you...
mbb
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