You can't trust your feelings

We were talking about foreign money the other day at the table. One of the girls here is from New Zealand, and she was talking about how much she hates pennies.

"In New Zealand, we have 1- and 2-dollar coins, so you can have a wallet full of change and it can be over twenty dollars," she said. "But here, my wallet is full and it's like...60 cents!"

We all commiserated with her and I mentioned my experience using British pounds for the first time. They, too, have 1- and 2-pound coins, and I remember paying for something with 3 coins, which would have been 6 pounds, which was equivalent to about $12 in American money. Because our largest coin is the quarter, I felt like I was only spending about 75 cents, and then I wondered why all my money disappeared so quickly. 

Feelings

Facts

One of the other girls quipped, "It just shows you can't trust your feelings." 


I was like, "Yeah." 


How often do we go by our feelings? How often do we act as if our feelings correspond to reality, when they don't? 


Regarding Spiritual things, we are some of the worst offenders.

"I don't feel like God loves me," we say.  

"I feel like this behavior (sin) is okay for me." 

"I don't feel like anything good can come out of this situation." 

"I feel like if I trust God with this [business, relationship, addiction, area of obedience, etc.], it won't work out."  

"I don't feel like forgiving."  

"I feel like I'm too busy to dedicate 3 or 4 hours a day to prayer."  

"I don't feel like it's responsible to trust God to work out the little nitty gritty details of my life. Doesn't He leave those things up to me?"  

"I feel like true victory over is unattainable in the Christian life."

If our feelings do not correspond with the Word of God, then they are just as bogus as my feelings that I was spending 75 cents, when in actuality, I was spending $12.

Align your thinking with the Word of God, and let your choices be dictated by His character, His promises, His faithfulness, His truth, and the reliability of His word. Disregard your feelings about the matter. They don't have any say. They don't have any bearing on your obedience.

You can't trust your feelings, but you can trust the reliability of the Word of God.