How did Lazarus feel as he laid at the rich man’s gate suffering, day after day? No-one cared for his condition or for his broken heart. What was going through his mind? We can safely assume that he had thoughts such as these: “Nobody cares about my suffering”. “Where is God? If He cared He would help me”. “I’m alone. My life isn’t worth living”.
We all have feelings, and most of us have thoughts like these at some time or times in our lives: they’re common to humanity. Our faith is tested, our will to live and to thrive is tested, and those around us are also being tested without knowing it. It’s not always the level of our suffering in relation to others which is significant: if we feel miserable, we are miserable. Neither does it help to be told that someone across the other side of the world or someone in hospital is suffering far more than we are. If that were really all that mattered, only one person somewhere in the world should have the right to feel sorry for himself, because he’d be suffering more than anyone else.
LUKE – DON’T TRUST YOUR FEELINGS!
It’s important to be aware of what we’re feeling. We do need to take care of ourselves, and we can only do that if we’re in touch with ourselves. However, feelings are notoriously unreliable. What we feel can run counter to what is objectively true, and if allowed to roam, our thoughts become selfish and myopic. More importantly, we need to care for the suffering of others. Caring is loving, and without love, said Paul, I am nothing. John went further and said that if anyone does not live a life of love he or she does not know God at all, because God is love. There’s the measure of a true Christian! We have to love others as ourselves.
Our emotions can betray us, so that we allow faulty thinking to run rampant in our lives, and so that we neglect others because we’re so focused on our feelings or what so-and-so did to us. Faulty thinking does not come from faith – instead it’s the enemy of faith. In extreme cases it may come from mental imbalance or illness, or from the enemy of our souls – Satan. True faith fosters logical, factual thinking, and leads to light and freedom. “If you continue in my word”, said Jesus, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”.
MIND, BODY, SOUL
I recently enjoyed some interviews with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor*. Michael, once a firm believer in evolution and materialism, now shares his faith in Jesus, and his conviction that the human soul is a very real entity which is beyond and apart from the physical brain. All living things have a soul, says Michael, but we humans alone have a “spiritual soul”. The human mind is largely but not completely synonymous with the spiritual soul. Among the information he shares from scientific research is the fact that emotion is predominantly a product and a domain of the brain and not the soul or spirit. It’s logical, then – and this is my thought not his – that we should apply our minds to keeping our emotions in check.
Of course, God created the brain as a vital part of our being, and clearly the brain contributes to the soul, but emotion, emanating from the brain, is notoriously untrustworthy. While emotions may be a huge blessing in many ways and may even contribute to the richness and character of our soul, we can’t always trust them. As an example, we may feel a swell of joy when sensing the presence of the Lord, but it’s a mistake to think that any surge of emotion is always coming from Him. Similarly, emotions we feel while suffering may be completely normal and legitimate and may be serving us admirably, while on the other hand those emotions can get the better of us and cause us to dwell in self-pity and darkness. Our souls need to dwell in Him.
Lazarus undoubtedly felt sorry for himself, and he had good reason to. However, in the times when the thought languished in his brain that God did not care, he was very wrong. “He is near to the brokenhearted”. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. It’s difficult sometimes to overcome the feeling that God has abandoned us or isn’t there at all, but overcome we must. Lazarus’ ultimate “salvation” didn’t come until he passed from this life.
Thankfully we don’t always have to wait that long for relief or deliverance, but the potential is there for all of us who live in cursed human bodies and a dark, fallen world. No matter how seemingly dark the situation is, if we really have faith it will consciously override the darkness threatening to engulf our souls, and we will believe our God when He said, “I will never leave you or forsake you”.
* YouTube video: “Is the Soul Real? A Neurosurgeon Makes the Case” with Sean Mc Dowell.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 