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Have you been pressed? Stressed? Just down right over it all? Well, about one month ago, I was feeling down because things were not playing out how I pictured. Another rejection. Another door shut. I got to a point where I was irritated with my situation. In fact, I will share my exact thoughts from my journal on 1/18/2020--
“God, Why this purpose? I have literally been “working at” this same goal for YEARS. I call myself trusting you but something’s gotta give. I can only take so much rejection. I don’t know what else to do. I have nothing more to give. All I have right now is this promise you told me and a little ounce of faith left. And that is straight up scary.”
Have you ever been there? You feel like you have been "let down" by God so many times praying for the same thing over and over. (Even though you know better.) Now, you’re too scared to believe that thing could actually happen. You feel like you have literally done ALL that you can do by trusting God and praying so you take on this attitude of--- “Maybe if I stop praying for it, it won’t hurt as bad because at least I didn’t get my hopes up too high.”
I got to a point where I was tired of having “faith” because in my eyes, it wasn't enough. But sis, God let me know this and now I want you to know--“That's it! When you have nothing but faith left, that is the most vulnerable place for you to be in but it is also the most powerful Because that is all I ever wanted. I just wanted your faith because if you give me that, now I've got something to work with." So sis, if you were looking for a sign to keep going, here it is! Keep hoping and believing in the promise, vision, or goal that God gave you.
You may be thinking, okay I get it, "But if faith is all I need, then WHY is it not “working.” I talk about faith so much in my blogs because I have NEVER been tested in an area more than this one, especially in the past few years. In fact, I can remember praying in my dorm room during my sophomore year of college to grow in the area of faith. Girl, I did NOT know what I was signing up for! But Listen up. The only way for us to grow in a particular area is to be tested in that same area.
God has been letting me know that things are getting real because we are living in a time where our faith needs to be 100% real. I was “talking big” about faith but He let me know, it is time to “walk that walk." Sis, could it be that you are in the spiritual funk because you are moved by your feelings??? We cannot judge the outcome of our situation by how we feel. Why?? Because faith is not a feeling. Let me repeat, FAITH IS NOT A FEELING. Faith will ALWAYS be a decision. And not a one time thing but DAILY. See, our faith and feelings DO NOT MIX. They just don’t and most likely never will. Why? Faith is based on what God can do. Feelings are typically based on what our eyes see. So we have two options: Go by faith or our emotions.
The reason we get so upset is because we are basing how God moves on a feeling. We say, “Well, my situation looks the same so I guess God is not working.” Lies, that is our feelings talking! I cannot emphasize enough how it is about perspective. Faith looks at the same situation and says, “You know what, this situation is not playing out how I expected but either I trust God or not? Either he is a liar or he only speaks the truth? Either the Bible is ALL truth or it is a COMPLETE lie? There is no in-between. Whatever we decide, that settles it. (Remember, the answers to these questions are crucial!). The truth is that we are not always going to “feel” in faith. We won’t always feel that everything will work out. We’re not going to always “feel” like God is working and moving behind the scenes. We’re not going to always “feel” like God is present. But, sis, this is where faith kicks in!
Faith takes God at his word. Faith doesn’t need our emotions to validate that God is working it out. Think about it. I don’t know about you but I sometimes view the people in the bible as heroes. Like how could Abraham have the faith to agree with God that he would have a kid at 100 years old? But each time I think like this, I have to stop myself. The people in the Bible were REAL people. WE may know how their situation ended but they did not. They knew as much about how their lives would play out as we know about ours, NOTHING.
I read this not too long and I think it will help you—“In the Bible, we have to realize that those people could not see with their 5 senses. They could not figure it out in their own reasoning. So they took God at his word. God told them something and THROUGH faith they believed it.” They had the "magic" ingredient that we have too, faith! Faith says “I know what God said and that’s what it is. Yes, my situation is looking rough BUT I remember what God said." This is where you have to turn in your BIBLE and remind yourself of the things God said to you. Yes, your feelings are real. You don’t have to ignore them BUT recognize that they do NOT have the final say.
So when you are in your lowest moments, let God know where you are at mentally and let your feelings know what the real deal is. I think this prayer sums things up, “ God, I know that things may not turn out how I want but I want what you want. And I know that you have my best interest in mind. What’s happening right now “feels” different than what I expected. But I’m going to let my faith carry me through at this moment. I know You can’t lie. You just can’t. So even if this situation “feels” not good, it will end up good for me (Romans 8:28) so that only YOU can get the credit.
So sis, when you are in a spiritual funk, you have to get to a point where you decide that your feelings will not run you. Faith is not about ignoring your emotions but it IS about making a decision to trust God DESPITE how you feel. This can be hard but we have to do our part and believe Him. And that’s on that.🌻👏🏾
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