"One night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me, as if she were drinking in every word. It is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor. I got interested in her, and after I had done talking I went and spoke to her. "Are you a Christian?" "No; I wish I was; I have been seeking Jesus for three years." I said, "There must be some mistake." She looked strangely at me, and said, "Don't you believe me?" "Well, no doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don't take an anxious sinner three years to meet a willing Saviour." "What am I to do then?" "The matter is, you are trying to do something; you must just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." "Oh, I am sick and tired of the word, 'Believe, believe, believe! I don't know what it is." "Well," I said, "we'll change the word; take 'trust.'" "If I say, "I'll trust him,' will he save me" "No; I don't say that; you may say a thousand things, but he will if you do trust him." "Well," she said, "I do trust him; but," she added in the same breath, "I don't feel any better." "Ah, I've got it now! You've been looking for feelings for three years, instead of Jesus. Faith is up above, not down here." People are always looking for feelings. They are getting up a new translation of the Bible here, and if the men who are translating it would only put in feelings, instead of faith, what a rush there would be for that Bible. But if you look from Genesis to Revelation you cannot find feelings attached to salvation. We must rise above feelings. So I said to this lady, "You cannot control your feelings; if you could, what a time you'd have! I know I would never have the toothache or the headache." (MOODY, Dwight Lyman, and John LOBB. Arrows and Anecdotes of D.L. Moody. Henry Gurley, 1877. Pages 149-150)
Moody is spot on in saying our salvation is by faith in Jesus: it is not by our works or seeking we are saved but by trusting in Him who has done all for our salvation and redemption. It is also true that many people seek an arbitrary feeling (or one that matches the experience of someone else they have heard about) for conversion, forgiveness or baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is faith in God and His word that enables us to consciously lay aside sinful or improper feelings and to choose to believe God despite how we currently feel. We can choose to love and forgive others because God has commanded us to, not because we feel like doing it. As Corrie Ten Boom said in an anecdote about her own struggle to forgive others, feelings of love can follow obedience by faith.
It seems to me the feelings the seeking woman experienced were quite different from the feeling of a toothache or headache. She had been feeling spiritually lost and emotionally frustrated by not experiencing a physical feeling that proved elusive. It is true we cannot control whether we feel the pain of a toothache or headache, but there can be things we can practically do to prevent and relieve them. The same is true concerning all manner of feelings that we have--even those that seem stubbornly part of who we are. When God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?" it reveals the way we feel can be right or indicate a fleshly and sinful perspective that requires correction. The psalmist asked when overwhelmed, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God." The main reason for even asking this questions is because such a one has already been made aware of God's goodness and power to save. Anyone else would have justified feelings of hopelessness and despair because of circumstances.
Praise the LORD He has given us feelings, for our feelings have been the impetus from the LORD to prompt us to desperately seek Him, to repent, to cease from doing wickedly and do what is right. How many times has gratitude and thanksgiving been accompanied by feelings of happiness and a profound sense of joy. Instead of rejecting feelings, we ought to embrace them and keep them in their proper place. Seeking feelings rather than the LORD Jesus is a snare, but a walk of faith with our Saviour involves processing many feelings and experiences He allows us to have. He that redeems our souls from destruction is able to redeem even bad feelings or lack of feelings for good, like in the case of this young seeker in Moody's day. Praise the LORD we serve a willing Saviour who makes us new creations by His grace.
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