Healing & Wholeness: Faith Is More Than A Feeling. Series

Faith is more than a feeling

How do you feel right now?

Have you ever thought about how many emotions and feelings we can have?

Do you find it easy to express emotions?

For example do you often watch a movie and find yourself crying tears of joy or sadness.

Be honest, when you watched the film Bambi, did you cry when his mother died?

Or maybe you get excited when you watch your team play football or rugby.

I can remember on a Saturday afternoon when my dad was watching rugby on the TV and he would suddenly throw himself off the sofa and land right in front of the TV and shout “come on boy” when a player was running towards the touch line.

He became so emotionally involved in what he was watching he felt like he was actually there.

Feelings are a gift from God.

Feelings are real – we truly experience them.

We don’t imagine them and God has created us with the capacity for an incredibly wide range of emotions and feelings.

We can feel happy, playful, calm, confident, courageous, peaceful, joyful, comfortable, optimistic, delighted, encouraged, satisfied, jubilant.

We can also feel angry, afraid, depressed, hopeless, confused, hurt, sad.

Emotions are a gift from God.

Feelings are real – we truly experience them.

We don’t imagine them. They are real, they may be the truth but they are not always the truth.

If we believe in Jesus Christ and feel like God loves us and accepts us that is the truth.

If we feel condemned or that God has abandoned us that is not the truth.

Feelings are a poor measure of the truth.

As believers we are to live by faith, not by sight.

There are times when the situations we are in or the circumstances of our life may appear to indicate that God is not for us or that He is giving us too much to handle.

Yet even in difficult times we are to live by faith in God’s word which tells us despite

our circumstances God is for us and not against us.

We need to live by faith in the promises of God’s word not what our feelings may tell us.

Maybe tonight you feel a little hopeless, maybe you feel like you can’t cope another day.

Maybe the challenge for you tonight is what are you going to believe– your feelings or God’s word?

You see, to be able to live by faith in God’s word we need to know God’s word.

If we regularly read the Bible and think about God’s promises, our faith will increase and we won’t

be dependent on our feelings.

Consider these verses:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Let me be clear - there is nothing wrong with showing emotion.

But, we must believe and obey God’s word no matter how we feel.

We may feel like we can’t go on.

We may feel like it is impossible to forgive someone.

Most of us probably won’t feel like rejoicing in the midst of affliction or giving thanks in everything but we can choose to trust and obey God’s word.

So let me ask you again How do you feel right now?

How do you feel tonight?

Happy, expectant, Joyful, Confident, angry, confused, sad, Worn out, burned out, absolutely fatigued.

Our Emotions can drain the very strength from our bodies, both physically and spiritually.

Does your body or mind need healing tonight?

Do you have faith that our almighty God can work a miracle in your life right now?

Sometimes we allow our emotions to override our knowledge.

We become so caught up in our emotions we begin to act upon our feelings rather than our knowledge of the truth.

Sometimes we forget things about God that are basic and true.

We as Christians must remember that we live by faith and not feelings.

We so easily forget what God has said in His Word and we ignore the promises that are ours in Christ.

God loves you even when you do not feel like worshiping or praising Him.

God loves you even when you fall short and succumb to temptation and feel unworthy of His grace.

God is faithful even when you are not faithful.

God is still there even when you cannot feel His presence.

God does not condition His love, mercy, or grace upon your ability to feel them.