Faith Is More Than a Feeling

Sometimes I have trouble letting other people explain the rules to board games and other similar activities, because I feel like I could be doing it better. However, it’s often a good idea not to interrupt them or shove my way into the conversation just because of my feelings.

Our relationship with God can be similar at times. Often we don’t feel confident in Him – we don’t feel faithful. That might seem like a bad thing, but it’s actually alright. You see, even many of the “heroes of faith” in the bible didn’t feel their faith all the time.

Take, for example, Abraham. When God instructed him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, his feelings probably weren’t very confident, in fact, inside he almost surely wanted to not kill his child.

Noah as well – he had never seen rain or floods, so there must have been times where he didn’t feel confident in God, times when he had doubts.

Also Rahab – she didn’t even know God, like, at all! It’s extremely unlikely that she felt any sort of trust and faith in Him.

And yet, all three of these people are recognized for their faith. James 2:23 says “God counted [Abraham] righteous because of his faith.” Hebrews 11:31 says it was by faith that Rahab was not destroyed along with the rest of Jericho. 

This is possible because of a very important truth — Faith is more than a feeling. Faith is also a choice and an action(s) based on that choice. Feeling faithful and confident in God is also amazing, but it’s not all! Despite feeling doubtful, and that your faith is “too weak” you can still choose to trust Him.

James 2 talks about faith being revealed through action. Action is a necessary follow-up step to choosing faith. In fact, without action it’s not really faith. Remember the encouraging truth that action can happen in spite of doubts!

There will always be opportunities for making the choice to act upon your faith. What are some in your life? Dive into this with God and decide on a circumstance that you will choose faith in.

— Ransom W.