I will never “feel” strong enough, confident enough, energized enough, or full of the Holy Spirit enough before I “feel” like doing what God has asked me to do. Neither will you.
Our feelings must follow our faith. We need to choose to believe the Lord our God will never leave us or forsake us, even when our current feelings make us feel otherwise. When we choose to believe and operate out of faith, it enables us to step out in faith and obedience, even when our feelings may be negative.
When I make a choice to ‘Step out in faith,’ it means I choose to “step out” no matter how I feel because I believe in God. I believe what He says and take Him at His word.
What does Scripture say about faith and belief? Romans 4:3b says “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going.” Abraham chose to obey the Lord by faith and not feelings. The promises of God could only be accessed by faith. The same principle applies to our lives as well.
Often, Jesus calls us to follow Him without us knowing the outcome in advance. He asks us to trust Him and to believe in Him and His goodness. He calls us to trust that He will never lead us down a path that is not for our growth and His glory.
I need to be rooted in faith and not my feelings. My feelings must follow my faith, and not the other way around. Allowing my feelings to lead me can often lead to doubt.
When we doubt, it completely counteracts God’s movement in our lives. James 1:6-7 says “But let him ask in faith, without wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed with the wind. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Doubt is deadly. Faith is fueling. When I choose to have faith, it always has a positive effect on my feelings. When I have faith, my feelings well up inside of me as I see God working right in front of me. When I choose to doubt, this never happens.
When we follow Jesus in faith, it results in being filled and overflowing with feelings of joy, peace and hope. Life tries to make it seem that we should follow Jesus fueled by our feelings. This never works. We never end up doing what He has called us to do because our feelings don’t “feel” like it. We need to be fueled by faith.
My feelings follow my faith. I would encourage you to pray this with me, “Jesus, I ask that You would pour out a greater measure of faith into my life. I believe. Help my unbelief.” {eoa}
Tesia Miller is a writer and founder of lifeisbeauty-full.com. Her ministry is to help people that are in need of freedom and deliverance see that they can experience it through Jesus Christ. Her ministry encourages people see that there is a way out of hopelessness and that life really can be beauty-full because of Jesus. She is also ministers at Kingdom Enterprises, an evangelism ministry in Tucson, Arizona.
