“Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said, ‘You have so little faith! Why are you worried about...’” Matt. 16:8
God beckons us to listen and to trust in Him with all of our heart, and not to depend on our own limited understanding. Why? Because He knows that our hearts are amazingly deceitful and is doing His best to protect us from ourselves! (Jer. 17:9) Now, while we whole-heartedly agree with Him in theory, the question is this: ~When the rubber of our life hits the road of our life’s challenges, does our ideology actually hold up? ~Amidst life’s crucibles, do our choices and decisions originate from a foundation of faith or a foundation of feelings?
Contrary to our societal norm, in God’s economy, the life of an effective believer simply cannot be built on the foundation of our deceptive feelings. Likened to Isaiah’s day, people today live amidst a pleasure-crazy kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. Their ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ cause them to turn away from God, claiming self-sufficiency and not being accountable to anyone. (Is. 47:8; 10) Oh, let this not be us!
God promises that if we chose to seek His will in all we do that He will do things like:
(Prv. 3:4-5; Is. 48:17-18; Jer.17:7-8; Deut.28:1-14)
- lead us, direct our paths, teach us what is good, bestow righteousness on us
- bless our coming in, our going out and everything we put our hand to
- give us peace like a flowing gentle river (not class-5 white water rapids)
- grow us like trees planted by the water (living without fear, always green and bearing fruit)
In 2 Cor. 7:1, Paul exhorts us to reflect of these amazing promises, then purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for Him. As we do, God empowers and enables us to override our own negative thought life, emotions, and desires and replace them with His own. And eventually (as we train ourselves to live in Him ~1Tim. 4:7; Heb.5:14), our feelings do align with our faith choices, and ‘old-nature’ thoughts, emotions and desires actually become distasteful to us.
Personal example: Just this week, Shaun and I were discussing a person whom we “feel” wronged by. But rather than following our feelingswe’re choosing to follow God’s advice for us in Prv. 20:22 (“Don’t say, ‘I will get even for this wrong.’ Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.”) The bottom line for us? We are trusting God to handle this matter. The result? We are experiencing Peace reigning in our hearts and in our household, plus great joy in the anticipation of all that God is doing in and through us!
Jesus, by His own example of surrendered obedience to His Father (including death on a cross for crimes He did not commit), shows us the way. What do you say we follow His lead this week?
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
