Philippians 4:6-7
Galatians 5:16-17
At times you may feel the tangible presence of God. But there are also those times when you feel God is far away from you. You may be very excited one minute but become sad the next minute when someone tells bad news. You may be happy when your favorite teacher comes to class but be sad and withdrawn when you have to study your least favorite subject.
You may enjoy spending time with God and reading his word today, but wake up the next day and find yourself struggling to say a short prayer and read a verse in the Bible. At times you may feel like you are moving to new levels spiritually, but there are also those times when you find yourself struggling with a particular sin or weakness.
Our emotions are not always steady. Sometimes they are up, and other times they are down. Why is that? It is because our feelings are influenced by other factors.
But the thing is, our commitment to God should not be determined by our emotions. We should serve God and put love and reverence for Him. Our relationship with Him should not be determined by external factors.
Jesus left the comfort of heaven and came to earth, where he was rejected by the very people he created. Our Lord did not enjoy going through crucifixion. He knew how painful it would be, but Jesus did not focus on the pain and humiliation he was going to go through. He focused on the purpose of him going to the cross, which was saving us from eternal damnation.
To ignite a flame for Christ in your life and others, you need to be willing to understand and not allow your emotions to control you like Jesus Christ. Our feelings can lie and confuse us. But when we learn how to rise up above our emotions and focus on Jesus, we end up doing great exploits for God’s kingdom.
Learn how to serve God when you are happy and when it is the last thing that you feel like doing. Trust God when things are working for you, and even when things are working against you. At the end of the day, our Christian walk is not about how we feel but about what God says about himself and us. Remember, we walk by faith, not by sight, and definitely not by our feelings.
Action:
Have you been avoiding praying because you don’t feel like it? Or maybe you know that you need to preach to someone, but you haven’t. Today choose to rise above your feelings. Do what God is telling you even though you do not feel like praying, reading the word, or spreading the gospel. Find someone that needs encouragement and share the gospel with them even if it is the last thing you want to do. Let them know that God loves them so much, and he is there for them no matter what.