Don’t Trust Your Feelings

“Let your conversation (conduct) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Hebrews 13:5

I am sure you have had moments in your life when you felt alone, forsaken, and forgotten about. I grew up in church and I had memorize this verse from Hebrews along the way, but I did not take the time to really mediate on and apply it to my life. I know the latter part of this verse tells us that He, God, will never leave us or forsake us, but I didn‘t always believe this as I have allowed my feelings to get in the way of truth. I have allowed my feelings to make me feel alone. I forgot this simple truth, but it never changed the fact that truth is always truth.

There were several stages in my life when I felt all alone and that no one cared about me. I know this was not true, but when you mediate on your feelings instead of the truth, your feelings will often get the best of you. I remember moving to Chicago and leaving every friend I had known my whole life. My best friend had joined the Army and was growing up to be a man while I was still worried about dumb stuff. My other good friend seemed to forget about me when I got expelled from our Christian school, and we grew more distant every day since my dismissal. He promised to come visit me in Chicago, but that never happened, and I seemed to initiate all the long distance calls. There were no cell phones at that time, so you had to make time to write out letters and spend money to make phone calls.

I lived with my family who showed me love, but I chose to focus on the ones I left behind instead of the ones I saw every day. It is funny how you can feel all alone, when in stark contrast, you are part of a family who loves and cares about you. I allowed myself to listen to my feelings, and I grew depressed and sad. I longed for the days of yesteryear instead of maximizing my time with my family and taking advantage of my new surroundings. My prayer life was non-existent, and I only opened the Bible on Sunday at church. I felt like God was not with me, even though I spent no time with Him in prayer or listening to Him. I felt like He had broken His promise and left me, even though He was always there the whole time and I was the one who left Him.

I think of Daniel and His friends who faced the fiery furnace and God was in the midst of the fire with them. I can promise you they did not feel alone and they did not wonder where God was. Their feelings might have told them God was not with them as He allowed them to go through the fire, but they did not focus on their feelings but instead focused on God’s truth. Maybe you have allowed your feelings to dictate to you who God is, instead of you drawing close to Him and taking Him at His Word. He promises we will find Him if we seek Him with all of our heart, but we must seek Him. We cannot allow our feelings to dictate our truth, and we must come to realize He is the truth.

Where are you today friend? Are you listening to your feelings or are you listening to the Word of God? Are you seeking truth in His Word or in social media? Are you asking Him for guidance and direction? Are you seeking Him as you should? You will not go wrong following after God, but you will go astray if you are led by your feelings. You are never alone if you have placed your faith in God as He is not able to break a promise. May we draw close to Him, and may we listen to Him and not our feelings.