Math Doesn't Lie but Feelings Do
Math doesn’t lie but feelings do…
This week I was reading a book by one of my current favorite authors. In the book I found a math mistake. I looked at it several times to try and convince myself I was wrong but I couldn’t shake it. So I sent the addition problem to a friend of mine to see if my mind was playing tricks on me. They too looked over it several times trying to convince themselves that I was also wrong and that the book was right. But turns out I was right all along and the book was wrong.
I’m not telling this story to try and convince you of my mathematical prowess because, honestly, I have none. I’m telling you this because math doesn’t lie. As much as we want it to, math doesn’t lie. Even God’s math doesn’t lie. It doesn’t always make sense to us but it doesn’t lie. Feeding five thousand men with a boy’s lunch doesn’t make sense but it doesn’t lie.
Our feelings, on the other hand, they will lie and deceive us. Not always, certainly, but they still will. Feelings are wonderful servants but terrible masters. Which is why we must master them. Feelings have their place but if we let them, they will also fog our clarity of a situation…or even how we view God.
I’m not sure who I’m writing this for, or who needs to hear this but don’t let your feelings and emotions cloud the promises that God has made to you. In both the Old and New Testament, there is a promise that God made to us that many of us forget or don’t fully understand. That He will never leave us nor forsake us. (For biblical reference see Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5)
Let me explain… to leave is to remove one’s presence; to forsake is to remove one’s attention. God promises to never remove His presence from you, and also to never remove His attention from you. You have God’s undivided, undistracted attention. All the time. Always.
Many times we don’t feel this way. Many times either we feel far from God or we feel He is far from us, but either way it goes against the promise that is in His Word. God can’t lie. God can’t break a promise. But feelings can make us feel like He did. He may feel far away, but again, feelings lie. And if He was far away, maybe He’s not the one who moved?
The struggle is what we choose to do in those moments. And you’re not alone in those moments, or in those feelings. Even King David fought these feelings. In Psalm 22:1 he starts out by saying this exact thing: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me!” He felt that God had removed His attention. The difference is, David didn’t stay there. He felt it, but he didn’t stay there. He didn’t stay in his feelings.
This question or statement got me thinking, is it really God who has removed His attention from us? Or is it us that have removed our attention from Him?
And if King David isn’t enough for you, how about King Jesus? He said the exact same thing when He was on the cross in Matthew 27. He spoke the very same words that His ancestor David said. But He, too, didn’t stay there. And in verse 50 it says “He gave up His spirit.” And the act of giving up His spirit was also an act of giving up His will to the Father’s. Luke even records it that way saying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
Feeling those feelings that God had left or abandoned you isn’t the sin; giving in and believing it to be true is.
So then why did God look away from His Son? Well the long word is that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin. The easy version is that Jesus paid your debt so that you didn’t have to. God took out your punishment on His Son so that you can have and keep God’s full attention. He could not look on the sin sacrifice that was His Son so that He can keep His eyes on you.
We face many situations in our lives where our feelings will lie to us. But remember, you have God’s undivided, undistracted attention. All the time. Always.
Does He have yours?
This week I was reading a book by one of my current favorite authors. In the book I found a math mistake. I looked at it several times to try and convince myself I was wrong but I couldn’t shake it. So I sent the addition problem to a friend of mine to see if my mind was playing tricks on me. They too looked over it several times trying to convince themselves that I was also wrong and that the book was right. But turns out I was right all along and the book was wrong.
I’m not telling this story to try and convince you of my mathematical prowess because, honestly, I have none. I’m telling you this because math doesn’t lie. As much as we want it to, math doesn’t lie. Even God’s math doesn’t lie. It doesn’t always make sense to us but it doesn’t lie. Feeding five thousand men with a boy’s lunch doesn’t make sense but it doesn’t lie.
Our feelings, on the other hand, they will lie and deceive us. Not always, certainly, but they still will. Feelings are wonderful servants but terrible masters. Which is why we must master them. Feelings have their place but if we let them, they will also fog our clarity of a situation…or even how we view God.
I’m not sure who I’m writing this for, or who needs to hear this but don’t let your feelings and emotions cloud the promises that God has made to you. In both the Old and New Testament, there is a promise that God made to us that many of us forget or don’t fully understand. That He will never leave us nor forsake us. (For biblical reference see Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5)
Let me explain… to leave is to remove one’s presence; to forsake is to remove one’s attention. God promises to never remove His presence from you, and also to never remove His attention from you. You have God’s undivided, undistracted attention. All the time. Always.
Many times we don’t feel this way. Many times either we feel far from God or we feel He is far from us, but either way it goes against the promise that is in His Word. God can’t lie. God can’t break a promise. But feelings can make us feel like He did. He may feel far away, but again, feelings lie. And if He was far away, maybe He’s not the one who moved?
The struggle is what we choose to do in those moments. And you’re not alone in those moments, or in those feelings. Even King David fought these feelings. In Psalm 22:1 he starts out by saying this exact thing: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me!” He felt that God had removed His attention. The difference is, David didn’t stay there. He felt it, but he didn’t stay there. He didn’t stay in his feelings.
This question or statement got me thinking, is it really God who has removed His attention from us? Or is it us that have removed our attention from Him?
And if King David isn’t enough for you, how about King Jesus? He said the exact same thing when He was on the cross in Matthew 27. He spoke the very same words that His ancestor David said. But He, too, didn’t stay there. And in verse 50 it says “He gave up His spirit.” And the act of giving up His spirit was also an act of giving up His will to the Father’s. Luke even records it that way saying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
Feeling those feelings that God had left or abandoned you isn’t the sin; giving in and believing it to be true is.
So then why did God look away from His Son? Well the long word is that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin. The easy version is that Jesus paid your debt so that you didn’t have to. God took out your punishment on His Son so that you can have and keep God’s full attention. He could not look on the sin sacrifice that was His Son so that He can keep His eyes on you.
We face many situations in our lives where our feelings will lie to us. But remember, you have God’s undivided, undistracted attention. All the time. Always.
Does He have yours?
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