When Faith Feels Empty, Feelings Aren’t the Final Word

𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁 …

And, I came across this guy who was all depressed about the fact that he didn’t feel anything within his faith.

He claimed to be a Christian, but he felt that Christianity was super toxic, judgmental, and he couldn’t reconcile it with the fact that most of his friends were of other faiths or LGBQT peeps.

There are probably a lot of people who can identify in one way or another with how he was feeling. There are a lot of judgmental religious people out there.

(That’s not just within Christianity, by the way. Nor is it exclusive to the so-called “Abrahamic Faiths.”)

I’ve met plenty of judgmental LGBQT and atheists. Let’s just be real for a minute.

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Feelings matter. But they are also like the weather. They are changeable, seasonal, sometimes stormy, sometimes windless.

And they come and go.

We can observe them. We can notice they are there. We can feel them.

And we can do so without judging them – and also without defining reality BY them.

𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

Consider for a moment:

𝘈) 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘖 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭?” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 (𝗣𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝟰𝟮).

𝘉) 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 “𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵” (𝘋𝘦𝘶𝘵. 6:5), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝗗𝗲𝘂𝘁. 𝟴:𝟮).

𝘊) 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘺, “𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵” (𝟮 𝗖𝗼𝗿. 𝟱:𝟳).

If your feelings are down today, but the covenant still stands, what should set the direction of your next step?

The weather, or the promise?

Another issue is that I feel many look at Judaism and Christianity as mere rituals without relationship.

Yeah, yeah, they hear all the blah, blah, blah about The Lord, and yadda yadda yadda about the God of Israel, and bibbity bobbity boop about Jesus but so what?

𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗺𝗮𝗻! 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗼.

Where is He today?

Who needs a hymn written hundreds of years ago or some cantor wailing the Shma?

How does that make your life even a smidgen better? Or society better?

But, then … most don’t read the prophets or pay a lick of attention to what they said.

𝘈) “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩… 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘦” (𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝟮𝟵:𝟭𝟯).

𝘉) “𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 ḥ𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘥 (𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦/𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺), 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦” (𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘢 6:6; 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁. 𝟵:𝟭𝟯; 𝟭𝟮:𝟳.

𝘊) “𝘛𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦”(𝟭 𝗦𝗮𝗺. 𝟭𝟱:𝟮𝟮).

𝘋) “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 ḥ𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥?” (𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗵 𝟲:𝟴).

The Talmud puts it in one piercing line:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦, 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘏𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯: “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.” (𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟬𝟲𝗯 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝟭𝟲:𝟳).

Knowing God isn’t about knowing minutia and trivia or being able to quote the Bible chapter and verse (although it is wise to gain a deep understanding of the Scriptures).

It’s about a relational knowing. It’s about attention that ripens into affection.

It’s about engaging with God and seeking to know Him in the same way you would engage and seek to understand your parents (if you love them).

It’s worth asking yourself, if religion and religious things feel empty, were they ever aimed at relationship? Or were they aimed at just doing things by rote?

Were they just getting religious things done? When you light a candle, kneel, stand, read, recite a blessing, to whom are you actually speaking?

Are you just mumbling the words in a rush to get through everything and do a:

“Rubba dub dub, thanks for the grub – Yay God! Let’s eat!”

Or are you actually talking to a being who is 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟, who is 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧, and who cares for you?

Listen, biblically, the “heart” (lev) is not the opposite of intellect; it is the control center of the person, thinking, willing, loving (𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃. 𝟰:𝟮𝟯).

God promises not new spectacles but a new heart and a new spirit (𝗘𝘇𝗲𝗸. 𝟯𝟲:𝟮𝟲).

Again, Jeremiah speaks of the Torah written on the heart (𝗝𝗲𝗿. 𝟯𝟭:𝟯𝟯).

That’s all about relationship between you and God inscribed into the self.

The New Testament shows the same movement.

Two dispirited disciples on the road to Emmaus have their minds opened to Scripture, and then confess, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” (𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝟮𝟰:𝟯𝟮).

Understanding kindles affection. Affection sustains obedience. Obedience deepens understanding.

Head and heart chase each other until the moment they meet and join in joy.

There’s a story that can highlight and give a small example of everything I’ve written here.

A veteran paramedic said he “stopped feeling” God years ago. What he did not stop was showing up to read a psalm before a shift and carrying a spare meal to give away on the worst calls.

One night, after a fatal accident, he sat on the curb with a survivor and quietly recited Psalm 23.

“I didn’t feel anything,” he said, “but the man did. And somehow, sitting there, I remembered again why I believe. And I went home and I cried because I remembered how many times I could have been where that man was – and God was beside me in the shadow of death.

And I remembered my faith was all about Him – and not about going to Church or some other thing I’d been doing with mind numbing repetition.”

The feeling followed the faithful act.

As the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.” (𝗝𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝟮𝟵:𝟭𝟯)

Jesus said “𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘈𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶; 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥; 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.(𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝟳:𝟳)

Seeking is not mood-dependent, it’s a verb.

And there is such an awesome promise for those who continue to take God at His word.