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When Your Feelings Disagree with God’s Word
By Dave Jenkins | Equipping You in GraceYour feelings are real, but God’s Word is more reliable. In this episode of Equipping You in Grace, Dave Jenkins continues the series Theology in a Confused World by exploring how Christians can trust Scripture when their emotions, desires, and experiences seem to tell them something different.Drawing from Psalm 42, Romans 8:1, and other biblical passages, Dave explains how to bring fear, guilt, shame, temptation, and suffering before the Lord. He also shares personal encouragement about grief, caregiving, rest, and receiving help from fellow believers.Listen or Watch
When Your Feelings Disagree with God’s Word
God created us as emotional beings. Scripture gives us language for joy, grief, fear, longing, and lament. Trusting the Lord does not require pretending that our emotions do not exist.But our feelings are not infallible. We can feel abandoned while remaining loved by God, feel condemned while justified in Christ, or feel drawn toward something Scripture identifies as sinful. Our emotions need to be understood in light of what God has revealed.In This Episode
- Why feelings matter without becoming our final authority.
- How Psalm 42 models honest emotion and hope in God.
- The difference between conviction and condemnation.
- Why Christian identity rests in union with Christ.
- How to answer fear, shame, and temptation with biblical truth.
- The danger of interpreting Scripture through experience.
- How the Holy Spirit renews our desires and affections.
- The importance of prayer, rest, and fellowship in difficult seasons.
Key Scriptures
- Psalm 42:5–11: Bringing a troubled soul back to hope in God.
- Romans 8:1: No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 5:1: Peace with God through justification by faith.
- Hebrews 13:5: God’s promise never to leave or forsake His people.
- Romans 12:2: Transformation through the renewal of the mind.
- John 17:17: Sanctification through the truth of God’s Word.
- Galatians 5:16–23: Walking by the Spirit and bearing His fruit.
- Proverbs 3:5–6: Trusting the Lord rather than our own understanding.
Bringing Your Emotions Before the Lord
Begin by naming what you feel. Then consider what that feeling is leading you to believe about God, yourself, or your circumstances. Bring those beliefs under the truth of Scripture.Answer false condemnation with the finished work of Christ. Bring anxiety to your caring heavenly Father. Respond to sinful desire by following Jesus. Seek encouragement from faithful Christians who will help you remember and apply God’s promises.Your feelings may not change immediately. Faithfulness is not measured by how quickly emotions respond. Keep trusting Christ, obeying His Word, and depending on the Holy Spirit’s patient work.Continue Growing in Biblical Truth
Explore more biblical articles and podcast episodes at Servants of Grace. Subscribe to Servants of Grace on YouTube for more episodes of Equipping You in Grace and resources to help you grow in Christ.
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah, and lives in beautiful Southern Oregon. He is a writer, editor, and speaker who loves Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology.
Dave serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries and the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine. He is the Host and Producer of the Equipping You in Grace Podcast and a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word.
He is the author of The War of Worldviews: Truth, Lies, and the Battle for the Christian Mind (Theology for Life, 2026), Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age and The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021).
You can connect with Dave on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, or subscribe to his newsletter.
When he is not engaged in ministry work, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife, going to movies, sharing a meal at a favorite restaurant, or playing a round of golf with friends. He is also a voracious reader, particularly of Reformed theology and the Puritans, and is often found working through a stack of new books from a wide range of Christian publishers.
Dave earned his M.A.R. and M.Div. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
