The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Faith and Feeling"
"We live most of our life by the conviction of faith, rather than the elation of faith."
We all want to feel our faith, as it were. Sometimes we do.
"Whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he" (Proverbs 16:20).
In times of temptation and challenge, however, we must trust God when our emotions flow in a direction that do not seem to correlate with faith. The happiness Solomon references may abide deeply within our spirits. However, our earthly sensibilities will seem far different. No less than the Lord Jesus Christ experienced this challenge in the garden of Gethsemane.
"My soul is exceeding sorrowful" (Matthew 26:38).
Certainly, the Savior perfectly trusted His Father amid the untold suffering and sorrow of Gethsemane and Calvary. "I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me" (John 5:30). As the "man of sorrows," however, our Lord felt the gamut of human emotion during the entirety of His earthly sojourn, and certainly, in the last day of His lifetime (Isaiah 53:3). He trusted His Father completely, but He felt feelings that were anything but "happy is he." Indeed, none of us will ever experience the immeasurable weight of challenge and temptation the Lord Jesus knew in the hours wherein He fulfilled the Father's redemptive purposes to secure our salvation. "Exceeding sorrowful" said our Lord of the agonies of soul that transcended all known by human hearts before or since.
We must trust God when we do not feel God. This will be occur quite frequently during our earthly lifetime, and in reality, will accompany most of our experience in a fallen world. We live most of our life by the conviction of faith, rather than by the elation of faith. Presently, it must be this way, and we do well to accept the the truth that faith in God most often involves the determination of volition rather than emotion… "I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 56:3; emphasis added).
Thankfully, the great Example of our faith also serves as the great Executor of our faith. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6). One of the most important things about which we trust God is… trusting God. "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I… that Rock was Christ" (Psalm 61:2; I Corinthians 10:4). We can seek Him about this, and we must. Not a one of us can adequately walk by faith apart from the One who promises, "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16). The Spirit of Christ will lead and enable us to trust God as we seek His grace of leading and enabling us to walk by faith. Only thereby will we live in "the obedience of faith" when feelings of faith do not accompany our journey (Romans 16:26).
"In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul."
(Psalm 138:3)
Weekly Memory Verse
In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
(Psalm 138:3)
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