It Doesn't Depend on My Feelings About It

Sometimes I sit in my chair with my Bible and journal, and I grapple with all sorts of complex theological issues. If I'm not careful, I invite existential crisis by 8:00 AM. I worry and worry about correct doctrine. I labor over what I'm feeling about things. I wonder why I don't feel particularly close to God.

I question my good reasoning skills, my intelligence, and my mental health.

I berate myself for my terrible mood. I go down the black hole into the familiar abyss--but wait! Wait!

I don't have to do this. I remember a wise person saying to me:

"Your feelings about the Bible don't change the reality of it and whether or not it's true."

Then I read Hannah Whitall Smith's bold declaration that our earnest feelings about Jesus--or right theology, or a positive mood, or clear thinking--are false resting places. Nothing about Jesus depends upon how we feel in any particular moment. God doesn't change (Psalm 55:19). He's exactly the same every single day no matter how I'm feeling about Him.

I am a shifting shadow; the Lord is not (James 1:17).

I'm so thankful that nothing depends upon my emotions, my good reasoning, or my ability to think clearly. These things are not the most important things. Truth does not depend on me.