Faith vs. Feelings

Feelings.

We all have them. And as ladies, we experience a lot of them. Often. [Can I get a witness?] There’s that oh-so-sweet commercial that brings a tear to your eye, or that terrible thing so-and-so said that made you angry. We have the ability to experience a whole array of emotions in a day. We can be happy and content just seconds before receiving unexpected news and now we’re devastated and overwhelmed. Given the right scenario, the switch can be flipped on our feelings at any given time.

Experiencing emotions is a good, and normal thing. I believe they are even a gift from God. Feelings are like a signal that tell us what's happening in the heart, and it’s healthy to acknowledge them. But what about when our emotions begin to affect [or trump] our faith? 

What if 2 Corinthians 5:7 read, “For we live by [feelings & sight] not by [faith]”?

Boy, would we be in trouble! Yet, if I’m honest, the question below can be deeply convicting, depending on the season I’m in.

Which one describes you today?

MY FAITH > MY FEELINGS

or

MY FEELINGS > MY FAITH

If you're like me, walking by faith isn't always easy. So, here are three hints for keeping your feelings from trumping your faith: 

1. Use the Psalms as a helpful guide.

I love the example we see from David in the Psalms about how he handles his emotions. He brings them before the Throne of Grace in total honesty. In some Psalms he confesses frustration over his enemies, in others he confesses feelings that God has forgotten him or abandoned him—essentially laying his questions at God’s feet—and in others he tells the Lord of his physical pains, and his exhaustion. Yet in all, he comes back to the truth. He tells the Lord of His faithfulness, thus reminding himself of God’s character. He prevails through faith, not on what is felt or seen, but on what is true.

2. Renew your mind with God's Word. 

Negative emotions will arise. It's natural and, at times, legitimate! But God's plan is not for his children to be defeated by their feelings. Take for example the Pastor's wife who is feeling too fearful to step into her calling, or the one who is beginning to feel hopelessness based on circumstances, or the one who is anxious about her family's provisions. In his book Discipleship Counseling, Dr. Neil T. Anderson explains that our emotions are essentially a product of our thoughts. If we choose to renew our mind with God’s unfailing truth, our emotions will eventually follow [see Philippians 4:8-9]. Let's take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. “If what a person believes or thinks does not conform to the truth then what the person feels will not conform to reality” (p 88). (Emphasis added).  

3. Examine the object of your faith. 

Faith is the key to victory. Truly, everyone lives by faith. The difference between believers and non believers is the object of faith. Ours is Jesus. But we can still sometimes get off track. For instance when feelings of worry or anxiety come, we must ask ourselves…

“What or who is the object of my faith right now?”

If that answer is not the One, True God [see His attributes here, and His names here] then we will need to realign our faith. I’d like to leave you with this diagram I recreated from Beth Moore’s Believing God study. It’s based on the Israelites journey to the promise land. From this visual aid, we see that prevailing faith in God and His promises will break the spiritual cycle of defeat and lead us into victory!

As New Testament believers, our Promise Land is the inheritance of all the Spiritual Blessings God promises to His children, according to His Word. This includes peace that passes understanding [see Philippians 4:6-7]. So, sisters, as life brings the testing of ups and downs, may we step out on faith with prevailing belief in our Awesome God, aligning our thoughts with His Word, and allowing our feelings to conform to His truth all along the way.

Will you choose to believe God with me today?

Lovingly,

Monique Zackery

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Monique is a Northern California Pastor's wife. When she isn't glueing her fingers together in a D.I.Y. project, you can find her worshiping God through music and everyday life.  Above all, she desires to be an arrow, pointing others to Jesus. To learn more about Monique, you can visit her family ministry blog at www.TheZackerys.blogspot.com. 

Putting Feet to Your Faith

By faith...Abel offered, Noah built and Abraham went.

Hebrews 11:1-8

As Fall's last word fluttered down, Scott's phone rang. The call came as no surprise. My life and those I most loved flanked left in a 30 second call.

That moment was birthed about six months prior as my husband lay in a hospital bed recovering from cancer. What raged within was so much more than a physical battle. It was from that very bed he first uttered his heart's dream - to use all his gifts of management and leadership for God's church instead of financial gain. 

Every day of those six months was lined with prayer. Only God knew of Scott's dream but talking to Him about it was more than enough. One ordinary night, Scott stumbled across an internet posting for the position of COO at Hope Church in Cordova, Tennessee. A quick Google search confirmed this as one of 50 largest churches in America.

It wasn't humanly possible that they would hire Scott, but God makes the impossible possible.

Three weeks later we were seated on a plane - me, Scott and Senior Pastor Craig Strickland - who just "so happened" to be returning from Dallas to Memphis and just "so happened" to be next to us on our flight. God spoke so loudly, Craig's phone call offering Scott the position was more like God's whisper.

Still it was relatively easy to take that call. It was incredibly difficult to act on it.

Answering meant moving my oldest daughters...again. Sadness lined my heart.

Answering meant leaving my parents and sister behind. Regret squeezed my heart.

Answering meant surrendering my own dreams to chase Gods. Faith met my feet.

The point where our faith meets our feet is the point at which it's actually made real. It is one thing to believe; it's another to act on our belief.

Faith is loving my spouse when he doesn't deserve it.

Faith is disciplining my kids when it doesn't seem worth it.

Faith is moving from where I am to where God wants me to be.

How has your faith moved you? Where does it still need to take you?
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Shannon is a morning runner, an afternoon carpooler and all-day lover of Jesus.

She is the voice of Jesus & My Orange Juice, a fresh-squeezed oasis for ordinary living. Shannon finds joy among piles of laundry and miles of carpools and delights in leading others to this place of contentment in life, through the written and spoken word.

Connect with her online at ShannonMilholland.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Faith For Your Calling

by Levitica "Lee" Watts

Do you remember the day you heard God's calling for your life? That whisper or nudge that confirmed what you were placed here on earth to do? Or perhaps it was a loud and sure voice becknoing you to your purpose, capturing your soul. Realizing and accepting our calling is often magnetic. It is a moment when the pieces of the puzzle all come together and our pain and our path merge together and we know we are where we are supposed to be. His Word and His whisper pierces our soul and we are excited to be alive, to be a part of His plan.

Then..."life" happens. Maybe something big happens in our lives that knocks us to our knees -- a death, a debt, a disappointment. Or perhaps it's those little things that distract us: the busy work schedules, children's activities, church programs, disorganized homes. It seems we no longer have the time, energy, resources or opportunity to do the very thing that we were certain He called us to do. Depression and discouragement sets in. We walk on an inner treadmill and we suddenly, yet slowly become doubtful of the future and God's call on our life. 

Although we talk a lot about faith, we seem to forget about faith when it comes to our own personal internal struggles. Sometimes we have more faith for others, than we have for ourselves - our spouses, our family, church members, friends. We use the faith talk and infamous faith verses for other people or those big problems that we like to bring before the church. Yet those internal questions that we struggle with at night, those... We forget to apply the faith verses to those things. 

When we come to that point of doubt and discouragement in our lives, when we have been brought to our knees, crying out to God and unsure of where we are, why we are here and where we are going, we must believe God's voice, and not our own. We must have faith and remember His character, who He is and not who we are. 

We must believe "... that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears." (Philippians 1:6 MSG)  We also must silence the voices - our own opinions and thoughts - and think of the goodness and love of God. Would He call us to something and not equip us to do it? Would our loving God dangle the proverbial carrot before our eyes? 

Yes, we in and of ourselves are unable to do it. The dream, the calling is too big to live out in our own might. That is when our faith kicks in and we believe that greater is He that is within us, than He that is the world. (1 John 4:4) Somehow the dream, the calling will be lived out. In His time, His way, His plan. 

When we are at a point of questioning our calling and not understanding how we will get from point A to point B, we must lean into God's promises and believe it, although we can't see it. It takes faith to shut-up (mentally and physically) and believe our Father. If we don't stop and reflect, the danger is to keep moving and believe the lies and ignorance we feed ourselves. And we've all seen it - those people that have accepted the lies, the belief that "this" is all there is and they can no longer do what God has set out for them to do. Beloved sisters, that is not who we are. We are more than conquerers. We are faith-walkers. We must press on...in faith.

Levitica “Lee” Watts lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Terence and two young boys, Terence Jr. and Trenton. Along with serving beside her husband, she is also the editor of an online magazine breathof God magazine and president of Atlanta Chapter of Ministers’ Wives. She is employed as Business Development/Marketing Manager and enrolled as an MBA student at Georgia State. She is a writer, sunshine-lover, hope-chaser, forever-friend of God, who enjoys working out and laughing with friends.

She can be found on Twitter: @lywatts, and on Facebook: Levitica “Lee” Ashby Watts.

Holding on to the God of the Storm

By Carla Adair Hendricks

As I type these words, much of the East Coast is bracing itself for the worst of Hurricane Sandy's fury. With most of my family in Maryland and Washington D.C. I'm bracing myself as well.

As I watch the Weather Channel and other news outlets, several emotions flood my spirit -- fear, anxiety, worry.

Have the storms of life acquainted you with any of these feelings?

This morning, I studied one of the most quoted scriptures, found in Mark Chapter 5. The words "Peace! Be still!" have inhabited many a sermon, bible study and gospel song.

Those words were spoken during a terrible storm. Jesus and His disciples were enjoying a ride across the waters in a boat, when...

"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!' He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." Matt 8:24-26

I saw a few things when I read through this familiar story. I'd love to share them here...

Jesus rides with us through the storm

He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. No matter what. He is always there. We can always call out to Him. Even when we feel like He's left us or not listening anymore -- and believe me, I've been there -- we can have faith that He is ever present with us. Even in the storm.

Our storms don't rock Him

I've been rocked by a few storms in my life. Every relocation has rocked me. Sickness and death of loved ones has rocked me. And back in 2001 when I miscarried twice in one year, I was rocked to the core. But not my Lord. He knew the storms I would endure. He knows the storms that still loom ahead of me. And yet, even when I fall apart, He stands strong, faithful and true through every last one of them.

 In love, He allows our storms

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? It's an age-old question. One that I won't take the hours it would take to answer. One that I couldn't completely answer with my limited human understanding anyway. But this one thing I know: God has the power to prevent storms in our lives, but for some reason He doesn't.

I think God allows storms to build us up. To make us stronger. To make us more like Him.

As we endure the fierce winds, rocky boats and rising waves that threaten to destroy us, He's teaching us faith. Faith that we will survive the storm. Faith that we're stronger than we feel. Faith that He's right there with us -- guiding us, navigating us. Faith that He's building the strength in us to wait for those powerful words that He'll eventually speak to our storms...

"Peace! Be still!"

Carla Adair Hendricks is a pastor's wife (since 2001), a Mama to four beautiful, rambunctious children, an adoption/foster care advocate, a writer, a lover of current events and public policy and a lover and follower of Jesus Christ. (Definitely not in that order!) She currently resides in Conway, Arkansas, but also calls Baltimore, Maryland and Franklin, Tennessee home. She founded "A Pastor's Wife's Garden" to encourage and uplift ministry wives around the globe, but has been pleasantly surprised over the blessing this blog has been to women from all walks of life. Visit her personal blog, "Deep Waters" here, follow her on Twitter @carlaahendricks and join Carla and other ministry wives every Monday right here at "A Pastor's Wife's Garden" for weekly encouragement.

Moving from Satis-fiction to Joy

by Shannon Milholland

Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali 

came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. 

There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, 

wine, oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

1 Chronicles 12:40

Banished. 

David was anointed God's servant but that anointing didn't come without cost. He was banished from the presence of the king. Sometimes in ministry what we long for most is elusive.

Intimate friendships.
Financial freedom.
Opportunities for our children.

The call is certain. The anointing is definite. But sometimes walking it out feels more banishment than banquet.

In 1 Chronicles 12, David is hiding from Saul. He is waiting for outward evidence of an inward call. Over the course of this chapter resources trickle in. What starts with seven men (verse 20) ends with a vast army of loyal followers of over 340,000 (verses 24-37), abundant food and resources.

But what we can't miss is the basis for abundance - joy in Israel. No person in scripture was more transparent and honest with God than David. Yet no matter how overwhelming his circumstances or insurmountable his emotions, he sought God's presence. In God's presence there is joy. God's presence brings abundance.

Do you long for intimate friendships? Do you dream of financial freedom? Do you envision better opportunities for your children? First find joy and satisfaction in God. Everything else we chase is nothing but satis-fiction. 
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Shannon is a morning runner, an afternoon carpooler and all-day lover of Jesus.

She is the voice of Jesus & My Orange Juice, a fresh-squeezed oasis for ordinary living. Shannon finds joy among piles of laundry and miles of carpools and delights in leading others to this place of contentment in life, through the written and spoken word.

When she’s not speaking and writing, she enjoys her favorite job of wife to Scott, COO of their church and mom to four daughters from kindergarten to high school.

Connect with her online at ShannonMilholland.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.