More Than A Feeling

By Scott Wetzel

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalms 13:1-2 NIV)

I did a teaching about sanctification the other night and had a long talk with a student after youth group about it.  We talked some more about what it meant and got a little bit deeper into the process of sanctification through our servitude.  Later on I received a text from them saying that they understood that sanctification wasn’t a feeling, but they didn’t feel like they “act sanctified”.  This person has a servant’s heart and is getting ready to do missionary work.  So it begs the question: “Why don’t I feel ____?” How important are feelings in my faith?

I hope it’s not the end all/be all of what I believe.  I don’t feel like a lot of things.  I don’t feel worthy or loved some times.  I don’t feel like going to work most mornings or like I’m doing much good for the Kingdom of God.  That’s because I’m human.  In Galatians 5:16-17, the Apostle Paul tells us that our flesh fights against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.  They are in constant conflict because everything our human nature wants to do is contrary to what God would have us do.  We are self serving individuals.  Look around us. The world is telling us to do what feels good and our bodies respond in kind.  The world tells us to take the easy way and our minds respond in kind.  But here’s the kicker: to rely on feelings ALONE is to deny God.  That doesn’t mean a feeling can’t be the Holy Spirit; it means that we shouldn’t put all of our eggs in the “feeling” basket.  Our feelings need to match up to the Word of God and rest in His promises.  Jesus didn’t even feel like doing the will of the Father when He said “if you are willing, take this cup from me” (Luke 22:42).  If Jesus had done what He felt like doing, we’d all be in a lot of trouble.  He relied on the Scriptures, and the promise of God instead of His humanity.

So we can take a pretty big hint from Jesus.  It’s not whether or not we feel like it; it’s whether or not we’re willing.  Are we willing to choose the right way despite our feelings?  Are we willing to humble ourselves, even though it’s the hard way?  Are we able to lift our heads and know we are in the will of God when it gets tough?  The Father of Lies prowls like a lion, and he’s willing to tell us anything he can in order to make us wander from our Father.  Sometimes that means he tells us that our feelings are more important than reality.  We just need to know that reality is bigger than anything we can feel.