Scrolling through some old podcasts, I found some from 2023
with Brant Hansen on Family Life Today. He made the comment that our culture places
far too much emphasis on feelings, and noted that if there is no absolute
truth, then all you have left are feelings. The unwritten rule is “If it feels
good, do it!” Even in the church we can go astray when we place more emphasis
on our “experience” of God and faith than we do our beliefs. As Paul said in
Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The Bible never
says, “If you feel saved” or “You should feel God’s love for you.” If we imply
that the assurance of salvation is something we must feel, then a whole lot of
people have reason to question their faith.
In that set of podcasts, Brant and host Dave Wilson both
share that they don’t seem to experience their faith the way some other people
do. I’d say I’m probably pretty similar to them. I usually don’t feel anything
in particular in times of worship, Bible study, or prayer (unless I happen to
be in a time of deeper depression that makes me teary). Sometimes I will get
choked up when someone shares a testimony, though that’s rare. And the only
couple times I know God has spoken to me were when I knew I had to do something
I didn’t want to do, like repent! So if I were depending on my experiences to
define my faith, I’d definitely feel like I was missing something.
Some people are more reactive to certain stimuli, and they
may regularly find church to be a very moving experience, but that doesn’t
necessarily mean their faith is stronger. Some people can be manipulated by the
style of music, but they may or may not have a good knowledge of the Bible or
what it means to trust God.
Feelings are not always based on facts, and can change with
time or circumstances. When feelings diminish or are missing altogether, faith
must say “I know this to be true whether I feel it or not.” That is reflected
in many of the people listed in Hebrews 11. They obeyed by faith even when they
didn’t understand all the details or sense immediate rewards for their actions.
It is repeated several times in Scripture that “Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (e.g. Rom. 4). It is
belief that matters, not “feel good” experiences. How many people go to the
altar repeatedly because they no longer feel saved? And how many others are
relying on some experience they had in the past even though their lives give no
evidence of obedience to Christ?
I’m reminded of a chorus that became popular in the 1970s
that never made much sense to me, “Sure the presence of the Lord is in this
place, I can feel His might power and His grace…” Maybe some people do have
that experience in worship, but not me. I don’t think we should presume
something is normative when Scripture doesn’t make it so. There weren’t a lot of
people in the Bible who had direct experiences of God’s presence, and those who
did usually ended up bowing down in fear (e.g. Ex. 3:5-6; Is. 6:5; Acts 9:4).
If we always felt God’s love, we wouldn’t worry so much
about whether other people love us or approve of us. If we always sensed God’s
presence, we wouldn’t really need faith. And if such experiences were universal,
our churches would be full because no one would have reason to doubt. But since
we can’t rely on our feelings and senses to “prove” God’s existence, we have to
decide if we’re going to trust that what the Bible says is true and keep
walking by faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen [or experienced]” (11:1).
© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
