Belief Is Not A Feeling

Our belief is not a warm, fuzzy feeling in our hearts. When we are redeemed and are adopted as children as God, we can experience a spiritual high. Our hearts are changed and we feel the weight of our sin. But, when we ask for forgiveness, we feel a feeling of utter joy and contentment. It can last for weeks or even months for some. Then, something happens. Life smacks us in the face and suddenly we've lost our job, a friend, a home, or even a loved one. It doesn't even have to be as traumatic as that to make us come crashing down in to a sense of loneliness and loss. It can be a bad day, something someone said, or a doubt you have.

No matter what way it happens, there does come a time when our spiritual high deflates and we're left with a hollow feeling in our heart Or, at least, we think we're hollow. We'd have that uplifting feeling and spirit of hope all the time if we weren't, right?

Only a few months ago, I would stand in church and watch as other people closed their eyes and raised there hands up toward the ceiling as they sang. I could see their passion and love for Christ in the way they weren't ashamed to raise their arms and sing. They weren't just reading words off a projected screen, they were praising their God in heaven. I wish I had that passion and those feelings. I can't raise my hands and close my eyes, say "amen" during the sermon, or pray out loud and alone during bible study.

If I did those things, I would feel embarrassed or silly. I have never really felt a lasting feeling of the warm and fuzzies like people talk about. I hear people say all the time about how they just felt a sense of peace in their hearts or had a spiritual revelation or felt God's presence.

This made me feel lost and confused. I would cry on my knees in prayer, crying to the Lord to give me some sort of sign and supernatural peace that would make me like the other Christians. I would ask for forgiveness of my sins every week in church and beg the Lord to make me be his child. Then, as soon as I got home, I would feel the same again.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago I heard this, "Shelby, belief is not a feeling." If only I had heard that a few years earlier. It's changing the way I think about Christianity and is causing me to be more confident in my faith.

We don't have to have these feelings to be able to believe. Believing means doing what God's Word says even when we don't feel like it or don't understand. Believing is praying even when it feels like we are alone and no one is listening. Believing means thinking of others more than yourselves. Believing means digging deeper into the Bible and reading it everyday even when we don't feel like it. Believing means singing in church and focusing your mind on Jesus and the perfect man he was on this earth, instead of what you're going to do after church when you get home.

Belief is action, it is not a feeling. Feelings come after the actions. It's a benefit of doing the work of believing. I was a Christian that was trying to live off of feelings and emotions, and I ended up a lost and nearly starved soul. Our lost hearts believe we live by feeling. That's what culture tells us.

If you are struggling in your belief, know that you are not alone and God is there. If you obey him and lay aside every weight that's holding you down, you will feel relief. It doesn't come right away. It might only be the assurance of knowing that we no longer have to be controlled and tossed to and fro by emotions. But, it is still there. The seed he planted in you when you first had your heart opened up to your sin will grow. It will hurt as the roots tear through your old self, past the unbelief and doubts and past the pain of the past. It will hurt to grow and it will not be a fast growth. But, when you look back and see how far you've come, the flower will bloom. You will see the light.

Belief is not a feeling, it is an action. The feeling comes after obedience. Trust. Obey. Then, watch the flower bloom.