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You feelings are real. You may feel overwhelmed. You may feel afraid. You may feel wounded. You may feel angry. You may feel like you are carrying more than you know how to express. But real isn’t ultimate. Feelings are not a place to set your doctrine because feelings will change based on circumstances. Something as silly as a hard day or as serious as a painful memory, a frightening diagnosis, or even somebody else’s careless words can change how you feel.
“I feel peace about it” is heard often these days as a way to justify decisions in whether something is right before God. But a person can feel at peace walking in complete disobedience. Jonah laid down to sleep on the ship that was trying to flee from the command of God. Just because you have a quiet feeling does not mean you have peace with God.
God does not ask us to ignore our heart. David cried out his fears, his sadness, and his troubles before God. The Psalms are full of these raw moments of honesty from David. But David didn’t set his feelings on a throne. He brought them before God and let the truth of God’s Word settle his heart.
Psalm 42 makes this process plain. The psalmist asks God, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” He doesn’t pretend everything is alright. He doesn’t listen to every whim his emotions say either. He speaks truth to his soul saying, “hope thou in God.” This is not denial this is choosing faith in God over letting the darkest thought tell you it has authority.
This is important because our culture is telling us to follow our hearts. But Jeremiah 17: 9 reminds us the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Our hearts do not need a pep talk; our hearts need the light of God’s Word to shine upon them. Our hearts can call sinfulness “freedom”, call selfishness “self-care”, call fear “wisdom”, and call rebellion “authenticity”. Scripture corrects these deceptions when we cannot see them ourselves.
So when your feelings and the Bible seem to be at odds with each other. Don’t throw out the Bible. Take your emotions captive to the light of Scripture. Read the passage in context. Pray through it honestly. Ask God to show you where your thinking is skewed. Then obey what God has said even if your emotions don’t agree yet.
The Word of God is not out to ridicule the hurting heart. It gives the hurting heart something solid to stand on. Feel whatever you feel, but allow God’s Word to have the final say. Jesus Christ is Lord regardless if the day feels sunny or stormy.
“I feel peace about it” is heard often these days as a way to justify decisions in whether something is right before God. But a person can feel at peace walking in complete disobedience. Jonah laid down to sleep on the ship that was trying to flee from the command of God. Just because you have a quiet feeling does not mean you have peace with God.
God does not ask us to ignore our heart. David cried out his fears, his sadness, and his troubles before God. The Psalms are full of these raw moments of honesty from David. But David didn’t set his feelings on a throne. He brought them before God and let the truth of God’s Word settle his heart.
Psalm 42 makes this process plain. The psalmist asks God, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” He doesn’t pretend everything is alright. He doesn’t listen to every whim his emotions say either. He speaks truth to his soul saying, “hope thou in God.” This is not denial this is choosing faith in God over letting the darkest thought tell you it has authority.
This is important because our culture is telling us to follow our hearts. But Jeremiah 17: 9 reminds us the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Our hearts do not need a pep talk; our hearts need the light of God’s Word to shine upon them. Our hearts can call sinfulness “freedom”, call selfishness “self-care”, call fear “wisdom”, and call rebellion “authenticity”. Scripture corrects these deceptions when we cannot see them ourselves.
So when your feelings and the Bible seem to be at odds with each other. Don’t throw out the Bible. Take your emotions captive to the light of Scripture. Read the passage in context. Pray through it honestly. Ask God to show you where your thinking is skewed. Then obey what God has said even if your emotions don’t agree yet.
The Word of God is not out to ridicule the hurting heart. It gives the hurting heart something solid to stand on. Feel whatever you feel, but allow God’s Word to have the final say. Jesus Christ is Lord regardless if the day feels sunny or stormy.
