Over the past month or so I’ve been walking through this season of not “feeling” the Lord.
To some people this may seem weird or not that big of a deal, but here’s something you should know about me – I am a very “feely” person. I’ve taken the Myers Briggs personality quiz quite a few times throughout my life, and when it comes to introversion/extroversion and sensory/intuitive my results are consistently pretty borderline but when it comes to feelings/thinking, there is no question – my feelings rule my decision making life.
And don’t get me wrong; this can be a great thing! I’m keenly aware of other people – how to best communicate with them and how my decisions may affect them. But this can also get me into a lot of trouble, especially when my feelings oppose truth.
So, I’ve been going through this season of not “feeling” the Lord – and its hit me pretty hard! I’ve felt like I haven’t felt His love, been in His presence, or heard His voice.
At first, I had all these thoughts running through my head, like I wonder if I did something wrong, or if I’m not doing something right. Maybe if I read my Bible a little more, or pray a little longer. Maybe if I fast or listen to an extra sermon. Maybe this, or maybe that; maybe then, I’ll finally be able to hear the Lord again, be aware of His presence.
So I tried all those things. And these works didn’t work.
And so I found myself starting to think maybe I can’t feel His love because that love isn’t here, maybe I can’t feel His presence because He isn’t with me, maybe I can’t hear His voice because He isn’t talking to me… And those feelings became my truth.
Romans 8:38-39 says,
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There’s a saying at my church back home that feelings are real, but they aren’t always reliable – often they are untrue. But the truth is these feelings don’t separate us from the promises of God – they CAN’T.
Did you know that there are 3,573 promises to be found throughout the Bible? 3,573. That’s a pretty significant amount of promises. I want to point out a few.
“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I WILL be with you. I WILL NOT leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5
“You SHALL be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and I HAVE separated you from the peoples, that you SHALL be mine.” Levitcus 20:26
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him SHALL NOT perish, but WILL have eternal life.” John 3:16.
Guys, these promises are TRUE – and these promises make up the GOSPEL.
See, I’m pointing this out because for a while now I have been looking for something out of God – to hear His voice, to feel His love, to be more aware of His presence. And while searching to obtain these things, I’ve become so frustrated with not hearing, feeling, or being fully aware that I’ve stopped rejoicing in these promises – I’ve stopped rejoicing in the simple Gospel.
The simple Gospel that came and died for me and broke the power of sin and ROSE AGAIN that I may be with Him forever. The simple Gospel of the perfect God Himself coming down to this broken earth to be crucified so He could defeat death for a broken person. A broken person who sometimes even forgets to be thankful for that! A brat! who gets caught up in the “feeling” and sometimes expects more from God thenthe Gospel. More then Victory. More than Salvation. More then Adoption. More then Eternal Life. More then Perfect Love!
You see out of the 3,573 promises in Scripture, the Lord never promises for us to “feel” Him. But He does promise that we are His. He promises that He is with us and will not forsake us. He promises that His love is enduring. He promises that He has died and risen again for us! He promises us eternal life with Him!
And because of that, I don’t need a feeling! And for that… I will never quit rejoicing.
