A Rock Won't Cave To Feelings

When our high school class went to Washington D.C. on our senior trip years ago, I remember participating in "Metro Surfing." I have no idea if there was an official name for what we were doing or not, but that's what we called it. On the late nights as we boarded the underground train to take us back to our hotel, we were often exhausted from an entire day of sight-seeing, but instead of falling asleep, we became giddy/silly (that point you hit after exhaustion). And so we'd find an empty-ish car, line up along the middle of it and brace ourselves against the starts, stops, twists, and turns of the Metro. The only rules were: We couldn't touch anything -- no poles, no seats, no other people, and we couldn't move our feet once we'd planted them. 

I found out quickly that it was a whole lot easier to position my feet in front of me and behind me, rather than side-by-side, because that was the best way to withstand the sudden changes in momentum.

I didn't go to Romans today. The Lord told me through a Godly friend last evening that I needed to "stand firm" in response to some battles I've been fighting recently, so I chose to focus on that this morning. My friend messaged me with this verse -- Ephesians 6:13 -- to think about and to pray over. "Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  

Y'all, I don't think Paul, the writer of Ephesians, was talking about taking a side-by-side stance here, easily knocked over in the momentum of battle. It's pretty clear that he's talking about a braced and rooted stance in the Lord, with a belt of truth, with a breastplate of righteousness, with feet that are ready, with a shield of faith, with a helmet of salvation, and with the s-Word of the Spirit. "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

I didn't feel very alert this morning, and I definitely didn't feel very warrior-like. Coffee hadn't kicked in, and the spiritual battles the Lord has given me to fight are dark and so often overwhelming. I buried my head in my hands and I prayed, "Holy Spirit, let me see You."

He placed a picture in front of me, as He sometimes does. I saw a newspaper with a large headline, the single word: Job. Underneath it was the number 42, but the Lord seemed to be pointing at the book of Job, "That first, then 42."

So I opened my Bible up to Job, and paged through the whole book. Most of us know the story of Job, how he is a prosperous and righteous and Godly man, but in a conference between God and Satan that takes place behind Job's back, so to speak, the devil proposes a bit of a litmus test for him, to see if he really is as faithful to the Lord as the Lord says Job is. And the Lord allows the test. So then, there follows many chapters of this back and forth among Job and three of his friends -- where Job is sad and exhibits a little bit of "Why me?" syndrome, and his friends -- while full of good speeches and great creeds -- miss the point entirely.

In Job 38, enter the Lord from stage right. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm." Sometimes, it takes a storm until we hear God's voice, right? "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me" (Job 38:1-3). 

God essentially asks Job just who he thinks he is to doubt the Creator God, until Job, thoroughly ashamed of his doubts says: "I am unworthy -- how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer -- twice, but I will so no more."

The Metro throws a wide curve, and Job stumbles to the side. He's shaky. He's had a firm place to stand, but when doubt creeps in, that foundation gets shaken. 

The Lord says again: "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?" (Job 40:4-8). 

Ouch, Lord. 

The Lord lays out the case, once again, for His sovereignty, and Job says in Job 42:2: "I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted."

Which makes me stop and think. While at a single glance, it seemed like God was using Job only to make a point to Satan... the Lord had a plan. A plan that wouldn't be thwarted. A plan that Job couldn't see. A plan that -- in the throes of it -- made him want to die, because it hurt. But because Job couldn't see the plan, he went into deep depression. 

Job felt forgotten and alone. Job felt like he was the only one. But oh y'all, how often feelings lie to us! "That can't be right, it doesn't feel good. Surely the Lord isn't really saying that, it doesn't feel nice. That feels too harsh. That feels uncomfortable."

Have you ever noticed how often God works in our hearts when conditions feel not so great? I'm sure Peter would have liked to have walked across a placid sea. I'm sure the woman with the issue of blood would have felt better had it only been a problem for a week or two rather than twelve years. I'm sure Jairus felt abandoned when the news came that his daughter had died while Jesus was still enroute. Too late, too late, too late. But Jesus took Peter by the hand and lifted him out of the water. Jesus turned around and talked directly to the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus raised Jairus' daughter back to life when all hope felt like it had gone. Despite the feelings, these people rooted themselves, stood firm in, braced themselves in a relationship with the Master, no matter what they felt. 

Feelings come and go. Jesus reigns forever.

In my post "Go Back the Way You Came!" from a couple of days ago, I wrote about Elijah in his "feeling forgotten" moments, too. Elijah complains to the Lord: "I am the only one faithful to You. And now I'm hunted down to be killed." Spoiler alert: It turns out that God had still reserved 7,000 in Israel who didn't worship the false god Ba'al.

Job spends whole chapters making statements like: "Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, when the Almighty was still with me" (Job 29:4-5)... 

And at last, God says: "Brace yourself." Stand firm. Root yourself. Pick up your sword where its lying on the ground. 

Why? 

Because God has a plan that can't be thwarted, and even when we can't see all the workings of it, when we don't feel like He's doing anything, He's hard at work finishing it. "Being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

In other words, He doesn't stop His plan or His good work in you while you're busy wondering what's He's doing. "Oh dear, Tamara's doubting again; I guess I'll have to lay aside my plans for her until she wakes up!" 

He will carry on His good work, doubts or no, and now and then, as we need affirmation, He'll stop in and remind us: "Hey, stand firm. Hey, brace yourself. Hey, Who, may I ask, shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb... when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?" (Job 38:8, 10-11).

In other words, we cannot brace ourselves on ourselves. That sounds kind of foolish, doesn't it? But how often do we try to fix things without waiting for the Lord? How often do we fall back on our feelings? 

We can only stand firm on the Word of the Lord. We did not "give orders to the morning or show the dawn its place" (Job 38:12); that was all God.

When my friends and I braced ourselves on the Metro, no matter how much effort we put into it, there was no possible way to stay still on the tracks while the rest of the train moved on without us. The only bracing we could do was to stand firmly in the middle of the moving car. God's plan surrounds us and carries us, and we brace ourselves in Him, never outside of Him.

Job braced himself in the Lord's plan, despite his feelings: "I know that You can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." 

Elijah went back the way he came according to the Lord's plan, despite his feelings, and anointed Elisha his successor.

Here's my takeaway from this morning: The battles I'm fighting -- against self-doubt, against fear, against pride (I realize that self-doubt and pride tend to be mutually exclusive, but here we are), against discontentment and anger -- are all quite real. These are not figments of my imagination; they are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and I do need to face them, but here's the thing (pay attention; this is important!): They all play to my feelings. And the only way to face them... is to stand firm on the immovable Rock Who doesn't bow to my feelings.

So to do that, I have put on the helmet of salvation (Acts 16:31), I have buckled up the belt of truth (John 14:6), I've strapped the breastplate of righteousness across my core (Daniel 6:4-5), I've velcroed on my ready-shoes (Isaiah 52:7), and I'm holding tightly to my shield of faith (John 20:29). The sword of the Spirit is in my hand (Psalm 119:11), and it does its own work (2 Timothy 2:9). 

So here I am, Job's words ringing in my ears: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-26).

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). And it's in His Name that we stand firm. Without compromise. 

We don't stand on feelings, as Job's example so profoundly illustrates. We don't stand on wishes. We don't stand on what we hear from society or friends, or even -- get this -- from our pastors and leaders and shepherds. While what they say is often wonderful and supportive and affirming and edifying...

But we stand on the Name of Jesus. We stand in Christ alone.