When Feelings Fade but Faith Stays
Well, brush the dust off your shoes and come claim a good spot on this ol’ front porch, friend. The cicadas are carryin’ on like they’ve formed a choir without botherin’ to audition, and that ol’ whippoorwill sounds plum convinced somebody asked for an encore. Seems fittin’ because our feelin’s can make just about as much racket. One morning we feel close enough to God to touch heaven, and the next our soul feels plum quieter than an empty henhouse at midnight.
That’s where faith comes in. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith rests on what we cannot see. It doesn’t say, “God is near because I feel warm and fluttery.” Faith says, “God is near because God said so.”
On the Emmaus road, two discouraged disciples walked beside Jesus without recognizin’ Him Luke 24:15–16. Their hearts were heavy. Their understandin’ was real cloudy. Yet, Jesus hadn’t wandered off somewhere. He was matching’them step for step.
That’s why Joshua 1:9 says, “The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
And here’s another beautiful truth. Psalm 139:7–10 asks where we could possibly go from God’s presence and answers that wherever we go, His hand will guide us and hold us fast.
Friend, feelings are plum real, but they’re mighty fickle lil’ ol’ things. They can scatter quicker than a big covey of quail when an ol’ farm dog comes barrelin’ through the broom grass. God’s promises don’t scatter.
Some days you’ll sho’-nuff’ feel His nearness. Other days you’ll simply choose to believe it. Both days, He is there.
Father, when my feelings grow quiet, anchor my heart in Your truth. Help me trust Your presence when I cannot sense You and Your hand when I cannot see what You are doing. Teach me to walk by faith and rest in what You have promised. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Alright now then, head right on down the sidewalk and out into the rest of your day, friend, and don’t you be measurin’ God’s nearness with your emotional thermometer. A lil’ ol’ woodpecker can’t see the whole tree while its nose is peckin’ against the bark, and sometimes neither can we. Keep right on walkin’. Keep right on trustin’. The God you can’t always feel is still holdin’ onto you mighty tight.
With joy,
Gwen
