The Fact, Faith, Feeling Train

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

THE PAGES FELT lifeless in my hands. I wanted to know where God was in this drought, in this desert. I had read and heard how He could raise life from dry places. But we’d been struggling through infertility for more than four years.

And like a madwoman, doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result, I kept opening God’s Word. Hoping to feel Him somehow.

It seems the train God calls us to board is not driven by feelings. Feelings wreck trains if they’re allowed to be the engine. Instead, we are called to ride a Fact, Faith, Feeling train.

The engine for my life needs to be driven by facts. Facts about the reality of the world and especially those about who God says He is. When truth takes the front seat, my feelings appropriately take the back.

Faith is the next boxcar to follow. It is tightly hitched to the fact engine. I can’t put my faith in my feelings; that gets me into all kinds of crazy. But putting my faith into the truths about God? That results in a much smoother ride.

And the caboose? Those are my feelings. They often want to steer the wheel for everything. To drive my decisions and my day. And how has that worked out for me? Just ask my friends, sister, and husband. They’ll tell you all about my train wrecks.

Fact. Faith. Feeling—this has proved to be the best order for my soul. I can put my faith in the fact that God finds me utterly delightful, that He loves me and died for me. I can put my faith in the fact that God is good and just all the time. And then I can continue to daily train my feelings to follow my faith. Our feelings matter, to be sure. But they need a proper place. The engine isn’t it.

Over those dry, deserted years as I opened God’s Word day after day, I wasn’t a madwoman. Grace plays the long game, and though that practice may have felt lifeless in the moment, it was very fruitful. The days spent in God’s Word gave me instruction, correction, knowledge, understanding, hope, and truth. It wasn’t warm and fuzzy all the time, but I opened my Bible and read God’s Word by faith. I was stockpiling my fact engine.

God is inviting you to know Him, to trust Him, to walk with Him. And being in His Word is a surefire way to find out more about His character so you can trust Him more. After all, how can you place your faith in a God you don’t know?

God’s Word has changed my perspective, has given me hope, and has fueled my fact engine as I put my faith in those trustworthy facts. Sister, time spent opening God’s Word is never wasted. Even if we read it by faith, not fully knowing what God is doing, that time will be fruitful. Won’t you spend time reading the Bible today to see how God wants to speak to you? Fruit always comes from faith.

GRACE REFLECTION: Consider reading the Bible for five minutes each day this week. Start small, in the book of John. Watch Jesus up close and personal. If you’ve read this book of Scripture one hundred times or absolutely never, see what you find out about Jesus. Trust that this practice will produce good fruit.