I certainly did.
Pursuit of God's presence is what I live for. I thrive to feel close to Him, to feel His love, and to feel his Holy Spirit. But what happens when you don't feel anything?
Discouraging doesn't even begin to describe how absolutely defeated and alone I feel. I'd sit down to read my Bible or pray and get nothing. Nothing. It seemed useless. And here, in the time when I felt like I needed God most in the spiritual battle raging through philosophy class, I was left to fend for myself.
Left alone?
Never.
By God's grace, He gave me the good friends and leaders around me to encourage and point me towards the truth: He's here.
True, I may not feel anything, but Pastor JD Greear helped me to remember where my feelings actually fit in with my relationship with God this past weekend at Summit Church. To put it simply, feeling should be the last thing to ever fuel my relationship in Christ. Faith follows fact, and feeling follows faith. My feelings grow out of my faith, but can be so easily swayed by outside influences, both good and bad. JD went on to say, "the feeling that you are saved and close to God is the fruit of the gospel, but they are not the basis of your assurance. The finished work of Christ is the basis of your assurance of salvation and God's presence."Silly feelings. I know in my head what I believe, but so often I let my emotions get the best of me, plaguing me with doubt and discouragement. Lucky for us, God doesn't judge us by our feelings and emotions, nor does He act based upon how we feel. He is forever unchanging, always with us.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1
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