JUST DO IT: FACING FACTS & FEELINGS WITH FAITH
What are you led by? Is it the facts you have been presented, your feelings or your faith? As believers, we’re called to live by faith. And yet so many of us choose to live by something else, facts and feelings. The problem with facts is they can be changed. Truth cannot. Truth supersedes fact. And of course we all know that feelings come and go, they waver and are unreliable. The Word of God however, is steadfast, immovable and unchanging.
Facts and feelings are both generated by circumstances, but faith in the Lord Jesus is knowing God said it; so believe it and settle it! Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen - Hebrews 11:1.
Remember what the Lord said to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified (FEELINGS) because of them (FACTS), for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you”(FAITH).
When trials come into our lives, we are to face them with joy because in spite of the facts, our faith will become stronger. “Consider it pure joy (FEELINGS), whenever you face trials (FACTS) of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (FAITH) James 1: 2-4.
Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firmly fixed in the heavens. Psalm 119:89
In Him,
Pastor Brian
This testimony is from Elisa at The Lakeside Church who chose to put aside the facts and her feelings and walk by faith.
Over the last few years I’ve had all the struggles, all the difficulties, and all the chaos I could imagine. But through it all, I knew that God was calling me deeper - into a deeper faith, a deeper awareness of who He is, and how much He loves me. I feel that the Lord is asking me to dare to dream, dare to plan, dare to hope, and believe that He is able to do far more than what I can imagine. I’m trying so hard to hold on when I hear the enemy telling me things will never change, things will never get better. Sometimes I feel discouraged but only for a moment, because I keep my thoughts on the Lord and not my problems. I believe that the Lord Jesus keeps His promises and when He asks something of us He will always give us what we need to accomplish it. When I step out in faith, He meets me along the way, so when more difficulties come, and I know they will, I will remember that the battle belongs to the Lord, and He gives me the victory. He is with me always; He will carry me through and He is working all things out for my good.
Elisa