Faith Is Not A Feeling - The One Year Sweet and Simple Moments with God Devotional

I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Luke 7:7, NIV

In this Scripture, a Roman official, a centurion, remarked that he was not even worthy to come to Jesus to ask for his beloved servant’s healing. Still, he was certain that if Jesus would “say the word,” his servant would be healed.

Ney Bailey’s book Faith Is Not a Feeling is based on this verse. It is a powerful story of God’s faithfulness through tragedy. I read it right out of college, and its title alone had a practical and life-changing influence on me. Because I am an emotional creature, I need a constant reminder that my faith should not be based on my feelings but on what God says in His Word.

When He overheard the centurion express his unworthiness, Jesus wanted everyone around them to know that He had not found such great faith even in Israel. It was not the sick servant’s faith He was commending, but the centurion’s. This one man’s faith was life-changing for his servant, and the miracle was confirmation to the centurion that Jesus was who he believed Him to be.

What an encouragement to me. What an encouragement to all of us. We need to choose faith over feeling every single time. There is nothing wrong with feelings, but they should not determine our choices. Whether we like it or not, God wants us to choose His way of faith and do what He says rather than what we feel like doing. Whatever God says through the pages of Scripture, we can take as Him “saying the word.” God will never guide us to do something against His Word. We can believe and act on the fact that God said it, so it is true, regardless of how we feel. Faith is not a feeling. Thank you, Ney Bailey. “Thank You, Lord, that there is never an April Fool’s Day with You.”

Let’s never base our faith on our feelings, but rather on what He says. Memorize Hebrews 11:1 (NASB): “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”