Trust God, Not Your Feelings

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12 NIV).

Have you ever heard the expression, “trust your gut.” This speaks to our natural desire to go with our feelings. If it feels right, it must be right. The problem is that often what feels right to us is not always right to God. The Bible teaches about a time when the world was in anarchy because of this attitude: “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Today, do we do what feels right or do we live a prayerful life and invite the Holy Spirit to be present and guide us in our decisions so they bring honor and glory to Him rather than pleasure to us?

If you reflect back on the poor decisions in your life, they are likely decisions that were made based on emotions and not prayer. Yes, God gave us our feelings but that does not mean that all of our emotions are good. For example, we have the ability to be jealous and envious, but Scripture speaks at length that these feelings are to be avoided.

Emotional-based decisions are particularly dangerous when it comes to major decisions such as marriage and children, divorce, and new relationships after a divorce. “After people get divorced, they rush into a new relationship because they hurt,” says Dr. Myles Munroe. “They believe the secret to relieving the hurt is a new relationship, which is the worst thing a person can do. If you get remarried and you’re still hurting, you are taking your hurt into another relationship, and that is going to become the foundation of the relationship, which is faulty.”

When you are making decisions regarding a new relationship, do not make decisions based on your feelings. Our feelings are temporal and not always rational, no matter how strong that may feel. It is important to take the time to grow and to build your life on a strong foundation. The Old Testament is full of stories of people that made emotional-based decisions that displeased God and prayerful decisions that honored God. Decisions that honor God will bring about His favor and blessing.

One of my favorite Bible verses comes from Joshua 24:15. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” If we are to truly serve Him, the we are to make decisions that honor Him by inviting Him to be present and walk with us. The alternative is not very inviting. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD’” (Jeremiah 17:5). Serve the LORD and be blessed.

Prayer: Dear God: Great is thy faithfulness. Amen.

Meet the Author

Todd Shupe is a Men’s Ministry Specialist through the General Commission of United Methodist Men and is in training to be a Certified Lay Minister through the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. He currently serves as the President of the Baton Rouge District of United Methodist Men and is a Board Member for Gulf South Men and serves on the Action Team for The Kingdom Group. He is a volunteer for the Walk to Emmaus, Grace Camp, and Iron Sharpens Iron. Todd resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

“He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what He does” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. The lyrics refer to secular frustration and commercialism, not Christianity. However, there is a message in the song that has been true since the book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon around 935 BC. In many instances, we cannot get satisfaction, at least not on earth. We may pray for understanding, but I think God is waiting for us to surrender and trust. Proverbs 9:10 teaches, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

From the time we are children, we constantly ask questions that range from mundane to existential. Are we there yet? What’s for dinner? Why is the sky blue? Why did my friend die at

such a young age? Why does evil exist?

Ecclesiastes 3:11 teaches us, “He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what He does.” This Scripture is telling us that God made us to be curious because “He has given us a desire to know the future.” As Christian we know that God is in control, but we are hesitant to walk by faith and not by sight. We tend to want to lean on our own understanding. This is particularly true for those with a predisposition toward left-brain logic.

Jesus understood our desire for understanding. He said in John 13:7, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” Jesus’s speaking style did not give “satisfaction” to the crowds. In Matthew 13 Jesus had finished the Parable of the Sower and the disciples asked Him a question that any of us would have likely asked. “Why do you speak to the people in parables? (Matthew 13:10).

His answer is revealing in many ways. “He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:11-16).

Jesus spoke in parables – earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. He did so that His disciples would comprehend His teachings and that unbelievers would be without comprehension. Those interested in understanding the truth of His message would understand while those not interested would remain without understanding. I circle back to King Solomon. He wrote in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” This provides me the satisfaction that I desire, and I am confident that when I meet my maker I will rest in complete peace, love and satisfaction.

Prayer: Dear God: Thank you for steadfast love which endures forever. Grant us ears to hear your Word proclaimed and the resolve to proclaim it to others. Amen.

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Who Do You Trust?

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT).

Many years ago, I was an undergraduate student. I took a few Philosophy courses to fulfill the degree requirements in liberal arts. I loved the classes because they forced me to attempt a deeper level of understanding. One class was on Logic and Reasoning and we (students) were given an assignment to use logic and reasoning to write an essay that supported our belief or non-belief in God. I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching assistant that taught the class. She was very knowledgeable, laid back, and approachable. We had some great conversations, and I learned a lot. She was an atheist and we had great talks to challenge each other in a kind but profound manner, which I enjoyed. I used the above Holy Scripture as the basis of my position as a Christian. I recall I got an A on the paper and the class, which likely influences my fond memories of the class.

This Scripture is critical to my Christian faith. How can we as mere humans pretend to understand the ways of God? It is as silly as expecting a single cell organism to understand macroeconomics. If we were to fully understand the ways of God, then there would be no need for faith. Christ wants us to walk with Him by faith and not by sight. Do you recall His words to Thomas after He appeared following His death? “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Jesus wants to bless those that are following Him based on faith.

Some may lose trust because they feel that God has failed to hold up His end of the deal and allowed tragedy to enter our life. It is not God’s job to make every moment of your life easy. If He did, we would never mature but would be spoiled and self-centered. That is clearly not what God wants for us. We live in an age of instant gratification. So, when we are in pain and pray and don’t immediately see the results that we want, we may be tempted to lose trust. However, His grace is sufficient for us, and His power is made perfect in our weakness.

God is more interested in drawing us closer than in making us comfortable. We will be comfortable for all of eternity in heaven. I know He wants good for our lives even more than we do. Psalm 118:8 tells us, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” So, I trust Him more than I trust any person, especially myself.

Prayer: Dear God, We often do not understand your ways. We lack your vision and perspective. Forgive us when we cry out for you during times of tragedy but yet fail to thank you for the many blessings that you have given us. Help us to realize that any tragedy that comes to us is not from you but will be used by you to bring about good for us. Give us the courage to walk with you in faith regardless of the clarity of our sight. You are the Good Father and we trust in your provision, protection, love, and grace. Amen.

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The Biblical Roots Of Trust

Trust is an essential component to any relationship. Trust is essential for a relationship to move past a superficial level to a more intimate and personal basis. Our relationship with God is based on our trust that first, He lived and died for our sins and second, He has our best interests at heart and loves us unconditionally.

The actual phrase “Jesus loves me,” cannot be found in the Bible but there are examples that support this fact. In John 13:34 Jesus said, “As I have loved you, you must love one another” and in John 15:9 He said, “As the Father has loved me so have I loved you.” In John 15:13, we read, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” While He spoke these words to His disciples, it’s clear He was speaking through them to us.

My favorite example of trust comes in Matthew 14 when Jesus walks on the water. After Peter sees Jesus, He tells him to “come.” Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and as he was beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.“You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

The message of this story is clear. We can do great things if we have faith in God. Recall Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But if we let doubt, worry, fear or anxiety control us then we become weak, self-reliant and are living in the flesh and our ability to accomplish great tasks is severely limited.

There is an old saying that anybody can be the captain of the ship when the water is calm, but the true character of a captain is revealed during bad weather. The same is true of our Christian walk. It is easy to be a good Christian when all is well with yourself, your family and friends. However, how do we respond when the winds of adversity inevitably come? Do we keep our focus and faith in Jesus and stand steadfast on His promises of health and prosperity?

Faith is essential in our Christian walk. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Have faith and be blessed as you bless others.

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