Faith or Feeling

When we grow deeper into our faith, one of the hardest things is to determine what is God’s guidance in our lives, when our emotions talking, and when they are the same thing. We’re taught we can’t trust our feelings because they cloud our judgment.

From adults we expect a maturity that says, “Don’t trust your emotions, and never be controlled by them. We’re to walk by faith, not by feelings. Sometimes we must choose an attitude that’s contrary to the way we feel.” –The Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan (Rule 5)

When we walk by faith, we often must choose things that push us into places that don’t align with how we feel. We must acknowledge our feelings and ask God to help us trust him. Many times the emotion is fear. We’re afraid that something will fail, our loved ones won’t make good choices, society won’t honor our beliefs, etc.

Scripture tells us not to be afraid:

“But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! The LORD your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’” –Deuteronomy 1:29-31 NLT

There’s no situation we could be in that God won’t pave a path forward. We need just enough faith to take the next step.