Facts, Faith and Feeling!

Wednesday's Devotion (6-4-03)

"But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isaiah 43:1-2 (KJV)

This is another one of God's promises and what a good one it is! My understanding of this is, no matter what we're going through in life, it will never be more than we can handle because God, is on our side. God, protects His children and doesn't let them be destroyed. Like a parent who sends their child to school, even though their child gets picked on by other kids. They send the kid to school, but if they saw, it would be too much for the kid, they'd most likely pull the kid out of school. Not only would they take the kid out of school, but they'd make a big stink. If something is too much for one of God's children God, will pull them out of the situation. Also, if someone messes with a child of God, God, will do more than make a big stink! You might think something you're going through is over flowing you. You might think it's too much for you, but God, knows you more than you do. He knows what He's doing and He knows what you can handle. Hang on to this promise and remember God, is with you even if it doesn't feel like it. I've been going through a trial and sometimes I feel like God, has forsaken me. But God, hasn't left me, He is there, but I won't feel that way all the time. Look at what Jesus, said on the cross. He said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus, is perfect and yet at one time even He thought God, had left Him. My point is just because we feel like or think that God, isn't with us doesn't mean it's true. Also some Christians have this false belief, that through every trial, you go through, if you have God, you'll have peace through it all. That's true in some situations, not all. That belief goes against what I just said about Jesus. I don't think Jesus, had too much peace on that cross. I just wanted to bring that up, because it's a misleading belief. There will be times, when we feel forsaken or feel defeated. There will be times when we have no peace, but those times are temporary. My mother-in-law told me something that made a lot of sense. She said, "You can't go off your feelings." She said, "We have three things to go off of: Facts, Faith and Feelings, those are the three Fs." Then she said, "We're like a little train and the front of the train must be pulled by facts. If we let our feelings go first instead of last, we're going backwards." Those aren't her exact words, but I think you get the point. Don't go by your feelings. Go by the facts and faith first. The facts are in the Bible and your faith is in what the Bible says. So put your feelings in the back, where they belong. Our feelings are very deceiving. Pretty much what my mother-in-law was saying is, if we're lead by our feelings, we're in trouble. We're going to be deceived and thrown to and fro with the wave of the sea. We can't put our faith in our feelings, our faith needs to be in the facts. We're just not going to make it, if we trust our feelings more than the facts. I hope today's message has helped anyone feeling defeated.

Prayer: Father, we thank you for not letting the waters over flow us. We ask that you'd help us go by facts and faith and to put our feelings in the back. Help us not to be deceived by our feelings. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus, name. A-men!