Thank God reality is not based on how we feel! Many of us
understand this intellectually; however, we contradict that knowledge with the
way we live our lives. It's true. We live in a "feel-good" culture
that trusts feelings over logic and sense! Marriages break up because two
people don't feel that spark anymore, fall for someone else or other similar
instances when feelings trump common sense and reality. We enter contractual
agreements for cars and houses with the understanding that we can't just feel
like turning our back on the agreement whenever we get a wild hair.
Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more common for people to breach
contracts, obligations and even marriages for that very reason. Our emotions
have become the source of reality for us. They have become the dominant
presence in our lives. What do I mean by that? Our emotions rule us. We, as a
culture, are what we feel. How can God rule our lives when our hearts are doing
that already?
Emotions are funny. They come and go. Happiness, sadness,
contentment and wistfulness are strong yet unpredictable and spontaneous frames
of mind. These emotions are not reality. They are experienced by us; they
augment and enhance our lives, but they don't naturally define us. However, in
this culture, to live contrary to one's emotions is perceived to be phony. I
can't help but think of Psalm 13 where David says, "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? Look on me and answer, Lord my God! Give light
to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, 'I have overcome him,'
and my foes will rejoice when I fall! But I trust in your unfailing love; my
heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has
been good to me." Many would criticize these final lines of David's poetry
saying that he is not being authentic and true to where his heart is. I agree
that David's ending words probably were written in direct conflict to how he
felt, but that is where the truth was. David's heart was strong, and his
emotions were vibrant. However, he knew the truth disagreed with his heart as
John later wrote in 1 John 3:20, "If our hearts condemn us, we know that
God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."
If we allow our hearts to dominate our lives, we will end
up enslaved to them. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you
will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and
despise the other." (Matthew 6:24) It happens time and time again that
people have entered into a relationship with the Lord to get those "feel-good"
benefits. When we hear promises from the Lord that He will give us love, peace
and joy, we often hear warm-fuzzies, tranquility and happiness. This presents a
significant problem since Jesus guarantees that our lives will have trouble
(John 16:33) and persecution (Matthew 5:11, John 15:20). What will we do? Will
we feel lied to? Will we decry, "What's this God? I signed up for the
feel-good plan!" Will we bail on God? Will we say, "I just don't feel
it right now?" Will we allow our emotions to dictate what truth is in our
lives? Will we say, "I used to have this fire, but I just don't feel it
right now?"
So we don't feel close to God right now. So what! We have
to understand that the first step for freedom from our hearts' dominion over
our lives is to see that we are not our emotions! This "feel good,"
emotional thinking is a virulent form of selfishness. It only knows how it
feels. Our minds must educate our hearts. Our faith in Jesus Christ must be
cerebral; it must be what we know to be true, not what we feel. That's the
bottom line. God is so much greater than our hearts. I have watched so many
kids' movies saying "follow your hearts," but oftentimes people who
follow their hearts follow to the end of a bottle or worse. Instead, let's thank
God that when we feel alone, He is still there! When we feel abandoned, He is
still holding on! When we feel guilty, He has forgiven us. Thank God reality is
not based on how we feel!
In His Grip,
BJ
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