Faith and feelings are not always allies. Our feelings and emotions are subject to the whims of our sinful weakness. In short, sometimes our feelings are wrong.

This is particularly important to realize when dealing with matters of faith. You may feel guilty, or you may feel that God is angry with you because something bad has happened. But that doesn’t mean that you are right! In the end, faith is based on the promises of God that we find in the Bible. Your relationship with God is based on what Jesus Christ has done to save you. To put it another way: God’s feelings toward you are infinitely more important than your feelings towards God. He loves you, and nothing will change that!

Martin Luther often wrote about the conflict between faith and feelings. Here is an example:
He who would enter the kingdom of Christ must pass beyond all feeling and be carried into a region where sensation is nothing. For we are not to judge by feeling. Therefore, if conscience accuses you of sin, if it sets the wrath of God before your eyes, if it tears Christ, the Redeemer, from you, you must not assent but must judge against your conscience and feelings that God is not angry and that you are not damned. For Scripture says that the kingdom of Christ lies beyond the domain of feeling. There we must judge against our feelings. (What Luther Says, p. 512)

At times our faith needs to silence our feelings. God’s love cannot and will not change; he has saved you!

For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling