Trusting God is a matter of faith. It is never about relying on our emotions.

For example, sometimes we may sense God’s tangible presence; that God is near. At other times, we may feel as though God is distant. I have learnt to trust that, regardless of how I feel, God is always near to me as one of God’s beloved (Psalm 139:7-8, James 4:8).

Our ability to experience emotions is a healthy, wonderful gift from God. (I highly recommend them!) Bottling up our feelings, or not dealing with negative emotions, can be extremely dangerous. However, when our emotions get in the driver’s seat and steer the direction of our lives, we are building our houses on the sand. Eventually, when the storms come, things will come crashing down.

Emotions are fleeting. I remember a time where I was deeply convinced that I was meant to be with someone, based on how I “felt” at the time (even though in reality, I was miserable). Eventually, after I obeyed God in faith and let go, the Lord brought me the true love of my life, now my husband. God really knows what is best for us!

When making important decisions, well-meaning friends might tell you to, “always follow your heart, for then you can’t go wrong.” We should be very wary of heeding such advice, since the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (NIV)

That is not to say our hearts are compulsive liars or that we should be emotionless robots. Rather, scripture tells us that we can’t trust our feelings to be our “final authority” in life. If we are born-again believers, we have given that authority to our Lord Jesus Christ, to direct our lives.

2 Corinthians 13:1 tells us “every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (NIV)

This means that we trust God with the important decisions by waiting for confirmation to come from two or three Godly sources. God speaks these confirmations into our lives in several ways, including through reading God's Word and hearing it preached, and through our church leaders, and sisters and brothers in Christ who pray for us.

As we mature as believers, we learn to make healthy decisions, based on our faith and Godly wisdom, not our feelings.

Blessings
Tirone Nel
Worship & Web Ministry – DGFC
www.deogloria.co.za