Feelings vs. Faith

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

Have you ever felt defeated in life or in your circumstances? Have you ever felt your future is defeated as well? The definition of the word “defeat” is the act of being overcome, a setback, overthrown, brought to nothing; frustration, and the act or event of losing.

The good news is, what you’re feeling is only a feeling, not the truth, not when you’re walking every day with Jesus. If we allow our feelings to take the front seat of our thinking and steer us where they want to go in our circumstances, we’ll end up parked on a dead end street.

However, when we recognize and believe the truth about what God says about us, we can choose to put our feelings in the back seat and place what God says in the front seat. This choice is what steers and keeps us on the path that leads to victory and blessing.

Our emotions and God’s truth create the battlefield we must fight daily.

Satan wants to make us feel defeated based on how things appear to our natural eyes. This is when we must believe more in what we don’t see than what we do see in the natural. This is called exercising our faith- believing what God says. When Satan tells us we are defeated, God says, “No weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.” Isaiah 54:17

We have a free will to choose what we want to believe- then act on our belief. What we speak reveals a lot about what we believe. Are we speaking what God says about us or are we speaking what Satan wants us to believe?

Let me encourage you not to lose hope when you feel defeated because God says-

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” 1 John 5:4

We are overcomers in Christ when we apply our faith, patience, persevere, and obey Him. “… you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

The Bible has numerous stories of people who faced setbacks. Some of them chose their feelings over applying God’s truth and were defeated. Others chose to allow God to work through the setback and they received more blessing and walked in victory.

To encourage and refresh your faith, read about Paul’s setbacks in Acts, Moses’ 40 years spent in the backside of the desert and 10 plagues later before he was able to free the Israelites, and Joseph’s years in prison. They were setback, but not defeated.

Our response to setbacks determines either our overcoming in Him or our defeat. Either we choose to believe God and what His Word says about us or we choose to believe our feelings over God’s Word.

Allowing both faith and emotions to take the steering wheel in our life will lead us around in circles.

Remember, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

What do you believe more in- what God’s Word says about you or your feelings about your circumstance?