Feelings Aren’t Always Facts
I read an article recently in which a woman explained that she became an atheist because she studied the Bible too much. That grabbed my attention and I continued to read. She said “I used to be a dedicated Christian, but the more I studied, the more questions I had about things that were opposed to my inner sensibilities.”
That’s the moment I realized her problem was not with the inspired contents of the Bible. Her problem was concluding that her initial “inner sensibilities” were the final answer.
God has given us a great gift in the ability to rationalize, have feelings, and distinguish between right and wrong. We have those natural abilities for a reason and I’m not suggesting that these things are useless and not wonderful tools if used honestly.
We must use our minds and ask questions to strengthen our faith. Just because we are left with questions about the word, doesn’t mean the word is not true. The same is the case with many other things in life. We must also understand that our answers come from the word of God, not from ideas that we conceive in our own mind. It just takes some work and diligence in study to connect the dots sometimes.
For example, I heard a famous daytime talk show host say “when I heard the preacher say that God is a jealous God, it didn’t sit right with me.”
The issue wasn’t that the statement confused her, the issue was that she didn’t give God a chance, asking clarifying questions or studying the subject further to come to an understanding of why God is jealous. If she had done that, she would have realized that God’s jealousy comes from His desire for her to have a closer relationship with Him than with anything else in the world.
If we look at God’s motives for His actions, in all cases, it can be traced back to His incomparable love for us!
We should recognize that it is a problem to view our personal feelings as infallible or superior to God’s expressed truth. Can we depend on our initial “inner sensibilities” or whether or not something in the scripture immediately “sits well” with us to determine what is right? Let the scripture answer.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
- Proverbs 14:12
Satan will do everything in his power to pull us away from the truth using our feelings and worldly influences. Paul warned the Christians in Colossae about this very thing.
Colossians 2:8-10 (NKJV)
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Jesus teaches us that if we desire to follow or be complete in Him, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. (Matthew 16:24) Denying ourselves means we accept the word of God alone as truth, rather than our initial feelings and discomforts brought about by our misunderstanding of what we have heard.
If you have left God behind because of feelings created by what you’ve heard about Him from a preacher or a celebrity, my prayer is that you will study Him deeper. Seek His word for the answers and ask questions that you might be afraid to ask! You’ll find a wonderful feeling in having that “aha moment” when your questions are answered, your misconceptions are cleared up, your heart is convicted by the truth of the scripture, and you truly see the love God has for you.
Everything God has done from the beginning of time until now has been done so that YOU can have an opportunity to walk with God, have YOUR sins forgiven, and spend eternity with Him some day.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
There is no better life than the Christian life in a relentless pursuit of Jesus Christ. “He can save you, He can heal you, Jesus can mend your wounded soul and He can make you whole.”
-Eric Bullock, Evangelist
