True or False?

We can believe what is true or what is false.

1. We can tell ourselves: God is good. This couldn’t possibly be God’s will. I need to find a way out of this at all costs.
2. Or we can tell ourselves: My God is sovereign. I realize there is no escape from this test, so I’m choosing to trust Him when everything in me wants to run.

God’s tests usually boil down to one thing: trust.

Most of life is lived in the gaps between great moments. In light of this, we have two options:

1. Unhealthy option: We read the Bible intellectually, but we evaluate our lives emotionally. Sometimes that disconnect seems huge, and we nurse discouragement.
2. Healthy option: We recognize that gaps are normal in the lives God’s people. Even Jesus’ life had gaps—huge ones. Why would ours be different?

If we hope to maintain a life of faith, we must accept our gaps as part of God’s will.

Gaps are normal. In fact, most of life is gaps.

And that’s okay.

Our objective? To glorify God in the simple tasks which await us this ordinary day.

Our duty and only goal today is faithfulness.

Follow Your Heart—Why That’s a Bad Idea

The word's wisdom isn't telling you everything.

It’s the mantra of today. It’s the moral lesson of most movies. It’s the guiding light of many lives. After all, it sounds so right, doesn’t it?

Follow your heart.

 “Follow your heart” is another way of following your feelings. Even as Christians, our feelings often lead us, don’t they?

·         “I don’t feel good about this.”

·         “Am I comfortable with this direction?”

·         “I don’t have a peace about this decision.”

Following your heart is a popular, but unwise, way to make decisions.

Although our feelings are real, they may not represent reality. And even if what we feel does have some connection to reality, it is never all of reality.

God offers a better way.

A Bad Idea: Follow Your Heart

We see life from a limited perspective, so we need to resist the assumption that because we feel something strongly, it’s true.

Don’t confuse true feelings for truth.

When God the Father spun the earth into orbit millennia ago, He knew we would need a guide to lead us through the deceptions of Satan and the maze of our feelings.

Obedience is that guide. Anything else is a bad idea.

A Better Guide

If we could see life from God’s perspective, we would realize that the obedient way is the best way—not just the moral way, but the best way (the two are always the same, but it still helps to say so).

The obedient path is the life we want because it always follows the big picture God sees.

I echo Paul’s concern when he wrote:

I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:3

True, the Spirit of God can guide through somewhat subjective means—but never in contradiction to biblical principles.

A Good Idea: How to Make Wise Choices

Make it a habit to evaluate your feelings through the grid of God’s Word.

Always ask yourself: What does the Bible say about this decision? What is the obedient way? 

And when there is a contradiction between your heart and the Bible?

Betray your feelings.

Don’t follow your heart.

Never lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Maintain a “pure and simple devotion to Christ.”

·         Even when it means humbling yourself.

·         Even when you have to stand alone to do it.

·         Even when it requires facing your fears.

Remember that when you follow your heart and allow feelings to guide you, it can lead you into places that will make you feel much, much worse.