Chasing our feelings can get us in trouble.

If we are waiting to “feel like” doing something before taking action, odds are we’ll be waiting a heck of a long time. My house would be a wreck and my work would be left undone because honestly I don’t really “feel like” doing it.

Feelings often lead us to delayed necessary action and impulsive bad decisions.

If I check in with my feelings, my feelings tell me I would like an Eggo waffle covered in JIF peanut butter and Aunt Jemima’s syrup this morning. My feelings also tell me binge watching Netflix in my ‘giving up on life’ pants would be delightful on this rainy Thursday.

You know what this tells me … my feelings often can’t be trusted … and neither can yours.

Instead of chasing feelings, we can be led by the spirit.

Spirit of God, lead me. Direct me Lord. My desire is to follow you Father.

Holly Furtick of Elevation Church said something very simple that has stuck with me this week. She said “you hear from God in church because you EXPECTED to hear from him there.” What if we woke up expecting to hear from God? The problem isn’t that God isn’t speaking, the problem is we’re not listening. We think we can only hear from God on Sundays at Church and well, we’ve all been missing church the past 2 months!

I wake up every morning expecting to hear from God. I’m 100% reliant upon him. He has 1 hour to talk to me and tell me what he wants to say in this devotional, then I hit record. My expectation opens the flow of his spirit and I hear him. Sometimes I hear him faster than I can type.

But you know what’s funny, the entire time I feel the guidance of his spirit, my feelings are going wild. My feelings are in an uproar that I’m up this early. That’s right ya’ll, I don’t feel like doing this … not at all! I would rather sleep. I would rather not get dressed. It’s ridiculous that I have a bra on at 6 am every morning!

But one simple shift in my life changed my trajectory. I decided I wouldn’t chase my feelings and I would ask his spirit to lead me. And wherever he leads me, I won’t dwell on how I feel about it.

I’ve found the enemy plays in my feelings. Just yesterday the enemy tempted me with a well earned pity party. Whew ya’ll, I wanted to be pitiful. The tears started and threatened to derail my day. No one would have blamed me under the current circumstances. It’s completely understandable I would feel this way. BUT I DON’T CHASE MY FEELINGS. My feelings lead me to dark corners where the enemy whispers his lies and renders me incapable. Why would I follow him there?

The spirit leads me out into the light where I am reminded of my truth and the promises of God.

Many ask me how they can hear from God. How can you be certain of where God is guiding you?

Well, first stop looking for the 5 year plan. We get wrapped up in how we think it should look and we miss that God has placed one little opportunity right in front of us. When I started all of this God never told me it would become the #1 daily devotional podcast in the world, he just told me to host a conference call the next morning and talk about him to anyone who called in. That’s it, he gave me nothing more. And honestly, he gave me nothing more for YEARS. I just kept hosting a conference call with 20 people on the line.

Just as God provided daily bread for the Israelites in the wastelands of the desert, God provides one opportunity, one step, one next right choice at a time for us.

When God chose Moses to lead his people out of captivity in Egypt, he didn’t give him the details of the journey. He didn’t tell him about the stick that would turn into a snake. He didn’t tell him how this stick would part the Red Sea. He didn’t tell Moses about the miracles he would work along the way, he simply had Moses lead his people one step at a time. And as they walked, God showed up and guided them with a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night.

Guess what … none of that was there when Moses took the first step of obedience. And my guess is every feeling within Moses was going ape wild! Feelings of fear, anxiety, inadequacy, doubt, worry, overwhelm, exhaustion. He had it all.

If Moses would have chased his feelings he would have turned around and led the people right back to the captivity they had always known.

If you’re chasing your feelings, you will turn around and go right back to the life you’ve always known too. BUT WHAT IF GOD HAS SO MUCH MORE FOR YOU? What if just beyond your feelings there’s a whole other level living you’ve never known before! What if God’s spirit has been trying to guide you there all this time, but you haven’t been listening for him.

That can change now.

EXPECT TO HEAR FROM GOD.

Moses EXPECTED to hear from God. He expected to receive his guidance. He expected to be led to unknown places by his all-knowing God.

Declare this with me now … I expect to hear from God. I am listening. Spirit, lead me.

Yesterday, while the enemy was offering me a pity party complete with wallowing and worry, I refused his invitation by turning on never ending worship music. My feelings simply couldn’t be trusted. My thoughts had to be refocused. If I wanted to hear from God, I had to listen.

And hear from him I did!

This is what I heard in the song “Spirit Lead Me” by Michael Ketterer:

I’m done chasing feelings
Spirit lead me
If You say “it’s wrong”, then I’ll say “no”

If You say “release”, I’m letting go
If You’re in it with me, I’ll begin
And when You say to jump, I’m diving in
If You say “be still”, then I will wait
If You say to trust, I will obey
I don’t wanna follow my own ways
I’m done chasing feelings
Spirit lead me

The spirit is here to lead you. If you listen, God will speak. Do you expect to hear from God? Do you believe he will guide you today? And will you be obedient even when you don’t feel like it? Even when every feeling within you tells you you’re unqualified, unequipped, and unable, will you remember the TRUTH … the truth that you are MORE than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, and with God nothing is impossible. So hey girl, this is real simple … stick with God and this won’t be impossible at all!

2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 says “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

The truth is we are more than conquerors through Jesus. The truth is nothing is impossible with God. But our feelings tell us we can’t, not today, not right now, not yet. The enemy’s weapons are often your dang feelings. He’s using them against you. Demolish that now! Take captive your thoughts and make them obedient.

No, I really don’t feel like doing what needs to be done today. But that doesn’t matter. I’m not led by my feelings. I’m led by the spirit of the Almighty God and if he says I can, THEN I CAN … AND I WILL!

God, if You say “it’s wrong”, then I’ll say “no” and I believe you’ll show me what’s right.
If You say “release”, I’m letting go and trusting you will give me something better.
If You’re in it with me, I’ll begin. I’ll take that first step and trust you with the next.
When You say to jump, I’m diving in. I’m all in for you Jesus, where do you want to take me?
If You say “be still”, then I will wait. I will resist my impulsive urges to rush through this and do it my own way.
If You say to trust, I will obey. Yes, even when it’s hard, even when I don’t understand, I will be faithful.

I don’t wanna follow my own ways
I’m done chasing feelings
Spirit lead me