9/20/2015

Faith is Not a Feeling: Choosing to Take God at His Word by Ney Bailey

In 1976 the Big Thompson River flood in Colorado took 150 lives, including those of seven women on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ International. Deeply grieved by the loss, survivor Ney Bailey embraced a journey of faith that led her to a life-changing truth: No matter how things look and no matter how we feel, God is in control.

In Faith is Not a Feeling, Ney reveals how life’s tragedies and challenges lead each of us to an important decision about how we will relate to God. Building on a foundation of experiences all believers can relate to, this well-loved speaker and teacher shows how you can take advantage of the endless opportunities life provided to deepen your trust in the Lord.

Faith is Not a Feeling has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to choose to believe God’s promises over their own personal feelings. Now you, too, can discover the secrets that will allow you to face painful experiences with a measure of objectivity, use your feelings to take you to God, and experience true peace in the midst of failure and trials. Best of all, you will learn how to obediently and confidently take God at His word as you never have before.
 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because of the things I experienced in my childhood, trust is not something that comes naturally to me. A fact that often surprises people, especially when they remark on how many friends I have. Yes, I have always been social. Yes, I have always gotten along with a variety of people, and because of that, I have always had a large circle of friends. But I think many people would be surprised to find out how little they really know me. I can count on my fingers, and have plenty left over, the number of friends who truly know me.

Once trusted, my  loyalty is never ending. Once betrayed, forgiveness may be given, but trust is unlikely to be bestowed again. That's just the way I am built. As a child, I often prayed to God to change my difficult circumstances, and when I did not receive the result that I thought I should, my trust in God waned, and it eventually drove me from the Church. I never lost what I perceived as "faith." I never stopped believing in God; I never doubted His existence. I simply doubted His plan and love for me. As a result, I spent many years trying to do everything on my own and searching for answers to questions that had already been answered by God.

It was only years later that I was able to see "the forest through the trees." I had gained enough perspective to see that God had answered my prayers as a child. His answers just came in a different form than I expected, and in truth, far surpassed what I had requested. The biggest challenge for me and my faith boils down to one word: trust. I didn't trust God's Word, His promises. I had a misconception of what "faith" meant. It is more than just believing. It is taking God at His Word. It is trusting that He will do what He says He will.

That's what I got out of this book. "God's Word is: truer than anything I feel, truer than anything I experience, truer than any circumstance I will ever face, truer than anything in the world." God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. My feelings, experiences, circumstances, and the world change day to day, hour to hour, minute by minute. God is forever and He never lies. I can have faith, can take Him at His Word, because he always keeps His promises. Such a refreshing idea to someone who has experiences tremendous disappointment. And when I look back at my life, I can see example after example of God's faithfulness.

This simple truth is expounded throughout the book and the twelve week Bible study that is included. I found the Bible study to be very helpful in reflecting on what Ney talked about in the various chapters and appreciated the easily applicable tools included. In fact, I think I got more out of the book by doing the Bible study than I would have had I just read the chapters. The questions where often thought provoking and some required a great deal of thought and reflection to answer. Overall, I would say this book is worth the time.

No comments:

Post a Comment