Faith and Feelings

I leafed through an old book yesterday titled Arrows and Anecdotes, a compilation of stories and sayings from the life and ministry of D.L. Moody.  I came upon one anecdote I especially liked titled "Faith and Feelings," and hopefully it will be useful for all who read it.

"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 for 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." (Lobb, John, and D. L. Moody. Arrows and Anecdotes. Henry Gurley, 1877. pages 149-150)

From my observations, as this seeker was frustrated for seeking an arbitrary feeling, Christians can seek particular experiences--especially ones other Christians have spoken about.  I cannot tell you how many believers have been sidetracked and cast down over the lack of an experience.  Such can be like a diner in a restaurant who is overwhelmed by the menu and sees a plate of food set down before a fellow diner and exclaims, "I want what they are having."  We can also be like people who make their menu choice based on a picture, and when the food is plated and served it looks nothing like the picture and we lament not going with our usual order.  If we make the spiritual experiences of others or the satisfaction of our expectations our pursuit, God is gracious to prevent us from the satisfaction only possible by faith in Jesus and submission to Him.  This profound joy and rest is more than a feeling or experience--though our relationship with Christ involves both on the basis of God's word.  Let us be those who trust Christ and exercise faith by obedience in Him, and He will help sort out our feelings as well.

For God's Sake

I remember a book title concerning children which compared them to wet cement because they are very impressionable.  They are incredibly observant learners, and many times a parent has been appalled by their own foul language echoing from the mouths of their children!  Words have flowed from our lips with great ease that grated upon our ears when repeated by our little ones.  Without going to school or preparing for an exam, children can be greatly influenced by those closest to them for good and ill.

God's design for parents is they would be responsible to teach their children of God and His ways.  This relevant principle for today was communicated by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:  "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."  Parents are called to be diligent to teach their children by example, to instruct them concerning God and His righteous character, and to illuminate the way of salvation by faith in Jesus.  There are some who think it improper to impose a Christian worldview upon a child, but to shrink from this God-given responsibility is great folly when we know in Jesus alone is truth, love and life.  C.H. Spurgeon is quoted as saying, "Whether we teach young Christians truth or not, the devil will be sure to teach them error.”

When God led His people into the land of Canaan He promised to give them as an inheritance, He commanded they obey God to destroy the inhabitants "...lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 20:18)  Should the heathen remain in the land of their inheritance, those under God's judgment would have a corrupting influence upon God's people and future generations who would adopt their sinful ways.  Sin always leads to more sin, and successive generations tend to drift further from the fear of God.  As I considered this, it led me to believe there is a person who sees the risk of sinful influences for themselves, and others who would be more apt to take action for the sake their children.  They don't believe they will fall prey to idolatrous practices (or could be corrupted even by indulging in them), but they take seriously the protection of their own children and keeping up appearances.

I have observed occasions where a husband and wife remain in a marriage relationship "for the children."  Though their bonds of love have been broken and their relationship seems unsalvageable, it is agreed enduring the paper-thin veneer of marriage would provide the best environment for the sake of their children.  When it comes to putting away sinful conduct or labouring to restore a loving marriage, shouldn't we do this--not for the children--but primarily for God's sake because we love Him?  We should obey God first because we fear, trust and love Him; we should repent of our sins and protect our children from harm so God would be glorified.  I wonder how many things we do for others, our children or ourselves which would be best done with God in mind for His sake.  Colossians 3:23-24 rings in my ears on this topic:  "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

The Blessing Cycle

"Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. ⁶ Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. ⁷ God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

Psalm 67:5-7

In our Bible study last night at church, we discussed how the psalmist illustrated how God's blessing of the earth leads to the praise and worship of God who will bless His people.  It is what I termed the "blessing cycle" of God that is continuous.  God blesses all people because He is good, and when His people praise Him God's blessing is multiplied so people shall fear Him to the ends of the earth.

After God created the heavens and earth and established His divine order in the world, the water cycle has been a means of God watering the earth and providing for the needs of all living things.  Water on the earth evaporates by the heat of the sun, condenses in clouds, falls to the earth in precipitation, and gathers in streams, lakes and the ocean.  At all times this cycle is at work throughout the globe without beginning or end.  As the earth speeds along on its tireless circuit around the sun as it moves through our galaxy, so the water cycle perpetuates like clockwork by God's power continuously.

The basic concept of the water cycle parallels the words of the psalmist who began the song by confidently asking God for mercy and blessing even as farmers pray for rain to fall on parched fields.  When rain does fall, consider all the drops of rain that fall upon lawns, gardens, and are gathered in gutters and are funnelled into rainwater tanks for future use.  There are many more raindrops that fall in the streets, footpaths and carparks that sweep away down storm drains to the sea.  Sometimes the downpour can be so great our rainwater tanks and dams fill and water spills over.  But none of those drops are lost, for they are gathered and in time evaporate to drop down again.

So it is with blessings from God:  He showers them liberally upon all people, and those who fear Him praise Him for great and glorious things He has done.  David said because of God his "cup runs over" and this is true concerning God's blessings which exceed our capacity to receive or acknowledge fully.  Having been thus blessed by God, the result is the praise of God who is blessed beyond measure.  God then rains more blessing upon us than we can contain day after day.  Our lives are sustained by the water cycle God upholds to provide water, and being blessed by God moves us to praise Him continuously.  Because we are blessed by God we can have confidence like the psalmist we will be blessed now and forever.

May our hearts sing forth as David's did in Psalm 103:1-5:  "Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! ² Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: ³ Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, ⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, ⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."  Hasn't God been good to us?  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Consider God's Creation

When we are awe-inspired by seeing something beautiful, majestic and breathtaking, in that moment we have no complaints or criticisms.  I have been on walks with windswept trees, waterfalls and amazing rock formations which cannot be adequately captured with panoramic photos.  The cry of birds prompted me to stop walking to observe them soaring high overhead.  The wonders of God's creation reveal themselves in the bush as well as near home.  In the latter weeks of summer, every day I awakened to find several fresh cicada exoskeletons perched on the bricks of our house and garage.  It is fascinating how these insects remain silent underground for years, crawl to a vertical surface, emerge from their exoskeleton, fly away and make their noisy summer music in the trees.  One can only marvel over the design and behaviour of living things--and God who created them.

Today I read part of God's words to Job which involved a string of questions that immediately went beyond Job's understanding.  The implication is God not only knew what Job did not and could not know, but God can do everything Job could never do and imagine doing.  There are innumerable creatures God has made which are capable of doing thing humans cannot do, and thus we marvel over them.  We are amazed by their beauty, behaviour, instincts and will to survive.  Documentaries are made to reveal unique traits of plants and animals we never dreamed possible because they are foreign to our experience.  We are captivated by the power of an ox, the speed of a cheetah, and fear the venom of asps.  Observing living things in this world survive, grow, communicate, seek a mate and care for their young inspires and impresses us.  We marvel how creatures could be so perfectly and wonderfully made without criticism of them.

God asked Job, "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?...¹⁹ Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?...²⁶ Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?"  (Job 39:13, 19, 26 KJV)  God mentioned animals to Job children can identify, and as a child it would be thrilling to see a peacock in person.  To find a peacock's feather would be special treasure for a kid because of its bright colour, large size and lightness.  Many a valiant man has fled from galloping horses that charged him due to their size and strength.  During my last visit to the States I was impressed by the size of a hawk perched on a power pole which was much larger than doves or pigeons commonly seen in the area.  No child criticises a peacock for not being orange; no one scoffs that thoroughbreds are slow or pathetic and claims we can see better or fly higher than a hawk--that we could somehow improve of God's designs.  These are creatures that far excel us in plumage, size and speed, and we praise them without complaint.

Man who does not fault birds for bright plumage or mocks horses for being heavily muscled ironically finds it easy to fault, criticise and mock God who made them.  Job had seen peacocks, horses and hawks, but it was God who gave peacocks wings, horses strength and hawks wisdom to soar in the heaves.  The logic is unescapable:  since Job could never do what God does wonderfully and perfectly, who was he to think God was ignorant of anything or incapable of doing everything?  The wisdom and glory of God seen in nature and the animal kingdom is plainly seen by mankind, and even tiny ants can instruct us in how to live well.  All that we love and marvel over in nature and take pleasure in, all of creation that stuns us with beauty that leaves us speechless without complaint or critique ought to be ascribed to God who is perfect in all His ways.  Who is man to question God or accuse Him of wrong when He has given us life, is wisdom for us and does all well?