There are different levels of feeling, and we need to be able to discern the difference between surface feelings and those things we feel deep in our hearts. There might be times that you may feel deep in your spirit that God wants you to do or not do a thing, and it’s important for your to follow those feelings. There are other more surface feelings that cause you trouble if you follow them. For example, you may want to eat brownies and ice cream every night followed by a huge bowl of salty porcorn but it will definitely cause trouble if you follow these. Otherwise, you would gain weight and won’t feel as energetic as you should. People are spirits who have souls and bodies. Out spirits are the deepest parts of us and the place where God make His home after we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Our regenerated spirits become the throne of God and He speaks to us, leading and guiding us from there. There are some feelings we have that are merely emotion and those feelings reside in our soul, a more shallow part of our being. If we just follow those shallow feelings, we will never get what we truly want out of life and we’ll actually make lots of messes that cause trouble for us and for others.
A good example of a person following a surface feeling is found in Genesis 27. In his old age, Isaac had lost his eyesight. He knew that he was going to die soon, and it was time to give the blessing of the firstborn to his elder son, Esau. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob, and his wife, Rebekah, favored Jacob. She wanted him to have the blessing rather than Esau. Since Isaac could not see well, Rebekah hatched a plan to deceive him by making him belive that Jacob was Esau.
Esau was a hairy man, and Jacob had smooth skin. Rebekah placed an animal skin on Jacob’s arm and told him to go to his father and pretend to be his brother. When the special meal required for the blessing ceremony was prepared and it was time to give the blessing, Isaac felt in his heart that Jacob could not be Esau, but he felt his arm and decided it must be Esau because he was hairy. This single instance of following the wrong feelings caused trouble for many years to come.
It caused trouble between the brothers; it caused fear, hiding, dread of being caught, guilt over the deception, and lots of other negative emotions that were all rooted in the one action of following a surface feeling rather than a deeper heart feeling.
Just imagine all the negative results when a married man has an extramarital affair because of feelings he experienced toward another woman. Or think of the years that so many persons in prison because they followed feeling of rage or anger and murdered someone, even though they knew deep inside it was wrong.
There are times when something may feel right, but it is wise to check to see where the feeling is coming from. Is it just an emotional feeling or is it something you truly feel in your heart is right?
Comment