"Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:13

Think about this, God designed our emotions to be gauges, not guides! They’re meant to report to us, not dictate us! The pattern of our emotions will give us a reading on where our hope is because they are wired into what we believe and value. That’s why emotions like a delight (Psalm 37:4), affection (Romans 12:10), fear (Luke 12:5), anger (Psalm 37:8), and joy (Psalm 5:11) are emotions that reveal what our heart loves, trusts, and fears in life.

But because our emotions are wired into our fallen natures as well as our regenerated natures, sin and Satan will mess with them and will use them to try and manipulate us to act faithlessly. Emotions aren’t the boss of our thinking. I think we all have to constantly fight against our emotions and remind ourselves that our lives should not be driven by feelings over faith, but faith over feelings. Sarah Hahn writes, “Feelings are inconsistent. They are unreliable. We cannot base our relationship with God on some wavering feeling.”

The writer of Hebrews puts it straight for us in Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

Here’s a perfect illustration. What if a farmer went out to work his farm based on the way he feels at the moment? Do you think he would get much done? A farmer’s work is hard! Living by faith is also hard! It takes a lot of effort to follow God, trust God, and listen to God as we walk by faith! Let’s face it, if we let our feelings dictate our day we wouldn’t accomplish much in our faith journey.

Feelings will also hinder us from running the Christian race in a way that’s pleasing to God or consistent with His word. Becoming entangled in our feelings only loosens our grip on the faith promises we have in God’s word. When the days are dark and grim we need God's promises to guide us as we trust Him. Our own John Miller once said, “We can’t lose our faith in the hard days because God promises us that the good days will come back.”

So regardless of how we feel on any given day, “let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:2).

God bless you,

Pastor Paul