Feelings and Faith

There are surely those times when we have heard it said by some struggling soul, "I cannot feel the presence of God.  It feels as if He is absent."  Perhaps, it is also true that such words have not just been heard in the laments of others, but have been heard coming from our own mouth.  One thing which must always be remembered when we are walking through those dark nights, when search as we may, our world seems empty of His presence, is that feelings are not trustworthy.  

What is trustworthy are God's promises.  How many times in the Word do we hear His voice whispering, or even shouting "I am with you...?"  Of course, there is no condition of time or place on that promise for it concludes with the word, "always." (Matthew 28:20).  Our feelings have nothing to do with His presence.  The means by which we live with confidence is our faith.  Our faith calls us to trust Him when our feelings would tell us He is gone.  What our faith tells us is that He never gone.  He does not come to abide or dwell in us for a moment, but for eternity.  

The darkness in which we sometimes walk is very real and it can be extremely dark, but there is a Word from the One who brought us into being that tells us, "The light (the essence of Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."  (John 1:5)  The darkness has no power to separate us from Christ (Romans 8:38-39). Christ has come to be with us, not for a season, but for every day of our journey Home . No matter how we feel, it is His promise.  His promises can be trusted!