Feelings Come and Go, but Faith Endures

Inside: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to how we worship, pray and speak about our relationship with God. At times, a lack of spiritual energy might just mean we’re tired.~

Have you ever felt like a mediocre believer because you didn’t think you were “on fire” for Jesus? Perhaps even experienced guilt because of it?

I don’t know when the on-fire metaphor first became popular in Christian circles—maybe during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s? Intertwining fire with faith not a new idea, of course. The disciples on the road to Emmaus said they felt their “hearts burning” as Jesus explained the scriptures to them (Luke 24:32). When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, tongues of fire rested on the disciples (Acts 2:2-4).

The Bible also speaks often of the “refiner’s fire”—the work of God that tests and shapes our faith and character. And God Himself is described as “a consuming fire” in Hebrews 12:29.

Even So …

None of these have to do with that passionate, on-fire feeling frequently associated with youth camps and mountaintop experiences. Such feelings are real, often valid and sometimes life-changing. But because they’re not necessarily sustainable, not having them can often be a source of guilt.

Don’t get me wrong: Heart-felt devotion to Jesus is important. Revelation 3:16 talks about the danger of letting our faith becoming lukewarm, rather than being hot or cold.

And Romans 12:11-12 gives us some detailed instructions about how to avoid this condition: “Never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord. When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When you pray, be faithful” (NIRV).

Many Factors

Unfortunately, what is sometimes overlooked in conversations about having fires in our hearts—or, as other translations put it, being “fervent in spirit”—is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this. So many things factor into the equation of how we worship, how we speak and write about our faith, how we serve, how we read the Bible and how we feel when we pray.

Upbringing, personality and season of life all play a role, some larger than others.

For example, although I get excited about certain topics, activities and people, I don’t think I’ve ever used the words on fire to describe myself—about anything, really. It’s just not how I’m wired.

A Simple Realization

I’m usually OK with this, but sometimes my perspective needs a little tweaking. During one of those seasons in the wilderness when the best I could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other, I came to a simple realization. A lack of spiritual energy doesn’t mean you’re dead. It might just mean you’re tired.

Feelings come and feelings go, don’t they?  We may feel like we’re “on fire” for God today; we may not tomorrow.

What matters most—when we’re slogging through a long drought of the soul or enjoying an amazingly fruitful season—is that we’re working on our relationship with Jesus just like we work on any other relationship that is important to us—with consistency, purpose and diligence.

Deeper Intimacy

As Eugene Peterson explains in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, this process is what results in deeper intimacy with God:

“We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it,” he writes. “But the wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship. When we obey the command to praise God in worship, our deep, essential need to be in relationship with God is nurtured.”

It’s counterintuitive, for sure. But it is worth the effort—especially over the long haul.

• • •

No Post Here Next Week

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♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with InstaEncouragements, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.