Fact and Feeling in the Faith

2007-03-11

One major pitfall in which we often find ourselves trapped is giving more credibility to feeling than to fact. For example, if we feel we are on a Spiritual high, we think we are walking with the Lord. On the other hand, if we feel distant from God, we think we truly are distant from Him. I, like many others, fall into this trap.

In addition, I remember myself going through trends in times past that I felt the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, and other times feeling rather indifferent or even as if I were in opposition to His wondrous guidance. Here are some examples:

When I first became a Christian, I felt a certain exuberance to seek God, and He answered prayers very evidently. I was bolder to share the Faith with those who had not trusted in Him. Within a year, I had started to walk away from Him and lived a life of syncretism of belief in Christ and an old worldview. What happened?

Again, a few years later, I felt a very strong passion to be in the ministry. I sensed the Spirit’s direction in a very precise manner. Shortly thereafter, I was living a Laodicean faith with the desire to become successful in the world’s eyes. What changed?

Consider the following:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

“Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

During my so-called Spiritual highs, were these verses true? And when I felt alienated by God, did they become false? The Spirit’s power is in us regardless of our faithfulness or what we feel. But a change occurred in my own heart, and not in Jesus’ heart.

When I shared the Faith with certain people in those early years, and they showed little interest, I looked at myself and said, “I cannot do this.” After that, I looked to Jesus and said, “Neither can you.” Throughout my life, I had unconsciously attributed my own shortcomings or Jesus’ lack of action according to my timetable a spiritual failure. In times past, I have either developed the belief that the Faith does not “work,” or that the Faith is like a religion that manipulates God’s will to fulfill my own wishes. What needs to change?

From my innermost being, I desire to see the face of our Lord. Yet I forget so quickly that I have seen Him change me from a very hopeless worldview to one who has endless hope in the arms of Jesus Christ. I forget so quickly that He has a vision to save the lost from impending destruction. I forget so quickly that He gave us everything we need to live godly lives, to live in the power of the Spirit, and to love others as He loves us. I forget so quickly that Jesus longs to have a relationship with me. I am the speck of dust in the midst of the vast universe that the infinite God loves with everlasting love. He knows me and wants the power of the Spirit to live abundantly in me. I must decide here and now that this power of the Spirit is available in me, right now, to draw me closer to the living God. I must decide here and now that this power is in me and Jesus is ready to use it to change lives.