Riverside Community Church Blog

This is the second part of my previous blog post, “The Feels”. Click HERE to read it before you move on.

“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” - 2 Corinthians 1:9

Paul and his companions felt like they were under a death sentence. I would imagine they felt incredible amounts of pressure and discouragement- who wouldn’t? But at some point in their desperation, Paul probably noticed something happening. Perhaps they became more prayerful. Perhaps they ramped up their worship of God. Perhaps they lifted their hands up a little higher and their voices a little louder. In these moments, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, they became more acutely sensitive of their need for God. At some point, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, Paul noticed what was happening. Because of the way they were feeling, they began to rely not on themselves but more on God...who raises the dead.

To begin, I want to unpack something that John Bloom from Desiring God Ministries wrote, “God designed your emotions to be gauges, not guides. They’re meant to report to you, not dictate you. Emotions aren’t imperatives; they’re not your boss. They’re indicatives. Let them tell you where the attack is being made so you can fight it with the right promises.”

The pressure and discouragement Paul and his companions were feeling reported to them that death was at their front door. But instead of allowing those feelings to dictate them, they served as a signpost to their increasing need for God Himself and His promises. Regarding the discouragement we might feel from the prospect of death, what are God’s promises to Paul, his companions, and those in Christ today? Perhaps Paul remembered what Jesus said in John 11:15, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live”. Perhaps he reminisced on his own spirit-filled words in Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”. Or in 2 Corinthians 4:14, “Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence”. And seeing the tie to the Messiah in the Old Testament, perhaps Paul harkened back to Ezekiel 37:13, “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.” If God raises the dead, what do they have to worry about? Nothing. These promises from God ministered to their hearts. These promises raised their hands higher and lifted up their voices louder in worship, and they opened their mouths wider in prayer. They do today, and they always will. We need God's promises.

Upset EmojisIf we're honest with ourselves, we're walking emoji's. Perhaps you’re feeling upset, weak, lonely, worried, anxious, unhappy, in danger, depressed, fearful, tempted, or confused. Take heart, God has promises for us that counter those feelings. For every feeling, there is a promise. Unfortunately, instead of making these feelings evaporate by faith in Jesus and the power of God's promises through the Holy Spirit, the alternatives are, 1.) Suppressing them in our own “mental strength”, 2.) Suppressing them by distracting ourselves by creating new feelings that we think will make the others go away, 3.) Suppressing them in other ways like (including but not limited to) drugs, alcohol, relationships, sex and/or the relentless pursuit of success. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve all done one or more of these!

All of these feelings collect and pile up deep in our hearts, and the cycle goes on and on until one day we hit rock bottom and lid blows off. But it doesn't have to be this way! God didn’t create us to live this way. All of these negative and complicated feelings are a result of sin in the world and in us. Life with God must have felt so good for Adam and Eve before they ate the fruit. Everything about life was as it should be, there was no shame, weakness, confusion, loneliness, worry, anxiety, or fear. But their sin broke their union with God and the peace they were living in, and it continues today. But praise God that it doesn’t have to end there. God now uses them as a part of His plan to woo us back to Him. These feelings don’t have to destroy us, they can be redeemed. They were redeemed through Christ on the cross. Our feelings don’t have last word, Jesus does.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, Paul says of Jesus, “For all the promises of God find their 'yes' in him”. God’s promises begin and end with Jesus. If you haven’t truly and wholeheartedly put your faith and trust in Jesus, then God’s promises aren’t yours, and your feelings will rule your life. Through a relationship with Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit and Jesus lives in and through us. Having the Holy Spirit within us doesn’t mean we’re never going to have these feelings and emotions again. Because we remain in the flesh, we will always experience these emotions to varying degrees. But through a relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit will conform us more and more into the likeness of Christ as it directs us to God’s Word and His promises. Our feelings and emotions don’t have to be our boss and they don’t have to push us around. For every feeling, there is a promise.

LET'S DO TWO QUICK EXAMPLES:

Feeling = Confused
Promise = Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Trust in Jesus, he will make straight your paths. He will make our paths go from crooked to straight. That’s a promise. Lean in on that.

Feeling = Hopeless
Promise = Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." That was a promise made to Israel during their captivity in Babylon, when all seemed hopeless. It's a promise that stands today. In Christ, God has a future and a hope for you. Lean in on that. Trust in Jesus.

Think about how you’re feeling. Let your feeling tell you where the attack is being made. Do a topical study, perhaps through THIS website, and combat the feeling with God’s promises. For every feeling there is a promise.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:3-4

In Christ, that's a promise.

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