Faith over Feelings

I’ve been married to Cathe for 45 years now. When I first met her, I was a little nervous around her. I had butterflies in my stomach.

But I don’t feel that way when I’m around her now. In fact, if I were to say to her one day, “Cathe, I’m feeling kind of nervous talking to you,” she would think I was having a heart attack or something. I cannot expect to have that emotional experience every moment of every day of our marriage.

It’s the same with our relationship with God. The Bible says the just will live by faith (see Romans 1:17). It does not say the just shall live by feelings. In fact, our feelings can mislead us. We can have all kinds of emotional reactions to all kinds of things.

I think sometimes we come to church and want to have a breakthrough moment. We think we need an emotional touch. No, we don’t. We just need to worship God whether we feel like it or not. We need to understand that the Christian life is a walk of faith.

I have a watch that gives me constant feedback, telling me how many steps I’ve taken and whether I’ve reached my fitness goal. Wouldn’t it be great to have a watch that tells us to read the Bible and pray, that keeps us on track in our spiritual lives?

I think one of the best definitions of being a Christian is, to borrow Nietzsche’s phrase, a “long obedience in the same direction.” It’s just putting one foot in front of the other and walking with the Lord every day. Some days you feel it. And some days you don’t.

That’s because our objective as Christians is to walk with God and live by faith. Are you walking with God today?