May 26 – Fleeting Emotions (2 Corinthians 5:1-7)

“We live by faith, not by sight.”(2 Corinthians 5:7)

IN WORD:
We fallen humans generally make decisions by sight, and sight usually takes one of three forms: (1) We let our emotions be the guide. In other words, we do what we want to do, and pride & feelings rule; (2) We take a common sense approach, evaluating the pros and cons and the risks involved in each course of action; (3) We seek supernatural guidance, often in pagan ways — by stars and horoscopes, mediums and spiritists, and even best-selling self-help gurus.
There are profound problems with each approach. Consider the first one today. It traps many believers. God created our emotions and He intends for them to be fulfilled, but He does not intend for them to rule us. If they did, our lives would be roller-coaster rides, up & down with every whim & trend. There can be no consistency in such an approach to life, and there can be no worship of God. God transcends our feelings, and when we elevate them above His wisdom, we are placing ourselves on the throne of our own heart — where only He belongs. Emotional guidance is a disastrous way to live. It sets the course of our lives based on the mood of the moment. We end up living with immeasurable regrets. Sooner or later, we find out: He who does whatever he wants at any given moment is like an animal — and a fool.

IN DEED:
God’s prescription for our wisdom is to find His. His is constant; His is eternal; His is deeply rooted in reality — the way things really are. It is not trendy, and it is not superficial. In short, His wisdom is everything our emotions are not.
A believer who forsakes his or her own feelings for the much more reliable guidance of the eternal God has become wise. That believer must realize that feelings are not forever shunned; God created us for emotional fulfillment. But we are much more fulfilled when He fills us, not when we try to fill ourselves with our own shortsighted cravings. Sight is limited; faith is not. We must walk by faith, not sight.

“Faith is the bird that sings while it is yet dark.” -Max Lucado-