Emotion-based faith?

Words cannot even begin to describe all that God has taught me through life this summer. I am so full. Constantly being filled more with His Grace and His mercy that renews me daily, hourly. Through my summer travels I have seen the transforming Power of the Gospel in minutes as I have watched people’s faces and souls go from confused and searching to resting and found. I could and probably will write story after story about broken people hearing the Gospel for the first time and believing. Accepting Jesus as a whole. And there are not many greater gifts than that.

It’s overwhelming to try and fit all that I have learned this summer into words, much less a blog that people could actually understand, but all I can do is try.

At the beginning of Trinidad, I asked someone wise for some advice. Anything that he would want to tell young people who seek to further the name of Christ and what he said really got me thinking. He simply said, “never be too good to stop learning and growing.” Slap in the face. Sometimes I struggle with putting myself on a pedastool because I am on a mission trip, or because I lead worship, and with that mindset, I “don’t need to grow anymore.” But that simple comment and simple piece of advice really changed my heart. God slowly began working in me to make me thirsty for more of Him. More of Him than I have ever wanted before. My prayer was to be restored. To be made alive again in Him.

Almost immediately he started to change my heart. Reflecting on last summer and the trips I took made me realize how much I emotionalize my faith. Even going into last year’s school year, if I didn’t “feel” right in my faith, I wasn’t doing the right thing, or God wasn’t revealing himself.

If I was down or struggling, it was God’s fault. He wasn’t showing up at the right time. He wasn’t telling me how to be a better Christian or how to work better for His Glory.

 

And shame on me for that.

Shame on me for thinking that how I feel about something reflects the character of God. When in fact, that weakness of mine actually reflects His strength. The way I feel about my faith, or about the Gospel, or about God, is not who God is.

My God is Great. He is mighty, powerful and in Control. He is independent. Never needing my human self to get involved in His Almighty plans. Oh, I am so weak. I find myself in constant need of His forgiving Grace. And to think that in my little, inferior mind that He changes based on my feelings.

I have noticed this in people in our youth group, in people on our mission trips, and in every-day people. We cannot emotionalize our faith. We cannot belittle God to a point where what He is becomes based off of what we feel.

This morning, I was up at 5am reflecting. Reflecting on this trip and on this journey in life that I got to take, and I was amazed at how many people in the church go on a mission trip, and if they don’t “feel” good about it, then it's not worth even going. And I am so guilty. “I just don’t know what God is showing me.” “I feel like we haven’t even made an impact.”

The reality of mission trips and life is: you live to share the Gospel and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. That is your mission that, in this life, we must do. It doesn't matter what you feel. The point of the trip is not to give you a good feeling inside your heart that makes you satisfied with yourself. My mom and I were talking about it yesterday and she explained that God sometimes gives you opportunities to go to other places and share the gospel, and so you take it and you go and you share. But just because you don’t feel right about a trip, doesn’t mean that the Gospel wasn’t furthered. It means you need to change your heart. And thanks be to God that what we feel about something is not what really is. Thankfully, souls don’t hang in the balance of our emotion.

This truth doesn’t just apply to missions either. It applies to our everyday life here and now. It applies to the Christians around the world. I pray that every Christian comes to realize that we have such a huge mission that God has graciously bestowed upon us to carry out. Our job is to make disciples of all nations. Be bold in sharing your faith. Eternity hangs in the balance. When you feel the Power of the Holy spirit prompting you to go and speak to someone, DO IT. It doesn’t just have to be in Trinidad or Uganda or Guatemala where we actually act on the Spirit. What do you have to lose? Friends? Reputation?

That’s nothing. Lose them all if it means God be glorified. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of serving an almighty God. Be ready. Ready and willing to let Christ take over your thoughts, emotions, and soul as He builds His kingdom here.

Praise be to God that He is so much bigger than any emotion that we could ever have.