Emotional or Faithful?

Spiritual highs are prevalent in our Christian walks, but when we only rely on our spiritual highs to bring us closer to God, we have lost the true meaning of being faithful. Our emotions are temporary and fleeting, but our faith should be constant and consistent.

Throughout my life, I have experienced many spiritual highs while growing in my faith and understanding who God is. I experienced these highs when I participated in summer camps, mission trips, church retreats, conferences, and others gatherings. If you've grown up going to church, you've probably experienced a spiritual high at one time or another. There's nothing wrong with these moments, but it's just like taking a drug--you get addicted, so you keep trying to find more and more opportunities to feel that way again. Before you know it, your faith becomes based on the feeling you get when you are spiritually high. Once this high fades away, you may feel angry towards God or upset with yourself for not being able to maintain that fire. The thing is--this transformation that we experience on the mountaintop doesn't usually last because it is reliant on our external experiences. This brings us to the question: is our spiritual life based on our emotions or faith?

In a book called The Divine Commodity, Skye Jethani talks about the story of Moses when he entered the presence of God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34). When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was radiant with God's glory, so he covered his face with a veil until the glory faded away. He continued to revisit the mountain, taking off his veil in front of God, but covering it again when he came down. Moses discovered that this mountaintop experience, while glorious and genuine, turned out to be a simple spiritual high that didn't last long (Jethani, 78). When we base our faith in God on the moments where he is tangible or seemingly present, then we have missed the definition of faith. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, faith is a "firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust." If we have true faith, then we know that God is present in every moment, not just during our spiritual highs.

Even when we have true faith, it doesn't mean that there won't be moments that don't make sense or moments that lack the feeling of God's presence. Jesus has called us to be like sheep among wolves, so we will experience trials of many kinds. In the midst of these problems and times of confusion, faith is what reminds us that God is working, whether we feel it or not. He walks with us everywhere we go, not just at church or in the locations we find comfortable. Saying that his goodness only appears at a summer camp or at a church conference is so far from the truth. All you have to do is pray for God to open your eyes to the thousands of miracles he is performing every day. That could mean you see the way he provides for the plants and animals or maybe you hear about a friend who recently had their prayers answered. God's glory does not fade with your personal experiences or emotions.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Now I'm not saying that spiritual highs are bad--they are awesome, and they can help us grow closer to God. What I'm trying to say is if we don't pursue God's presence beyond our external experiences, then spiritual highs alone will not sustain us--we will always be hungry for more. A few ways to continue pursuing him are through prayer, reading the Bible, doing a book study with others, meditating on his word, journaling, singing, etc. Something that I have come to realize is that God is constantly fighting for us, for our hearts, for our minds, and for our souls. When we feel like he isn't near, he is the closest he has ever been, tugging us in the right direction without us even realizing it. Prayer has also become a huge part of my spiritual life and I would strongly encourage that you ask God to do work in you, even if that seems scary. No matter what happens, it will be so much greater than the plan you have for yourself. So continue to have faith, continue pursuing him and seeking him, and he will find you.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3 (NIV)