Dr. BJ Condrey

Truth and Emotion: Emotions are NOT a reliable guide when deciding what is true and what is good. While emotions are a gift from God, they ought never to be exalted to a place where we are relying on them to decide what is true and good. One should not minimize or exalt emotions. Have you heard of the phrase, “Stay in your lane.” I think that this applies to the emotional life. Emotions must be told to “stay in their lane,” being neither minimized nor exalted. The moment we start determining what is true or not true based on what we feel, we are in trouble. It is a slippery slope that is bound to lead to a VERY unstable life.

Has God Abandoned Me? Tim Keller, a pastor and theologian that recently passed, makes the distinction between subjective and objective abandonment. I learned of this when watching a sermon by him on Psalm 88. He is speaking to Christians who have the Holy Spirit as a result of trusting in the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. Subjective abandonment is the feeling that God has left, is no longer listening, or whatever accompanies this dark night of the soul. On the other hand, objective abandonment refers to God actually leaving, abandoning a person and never returning. Keller then makes the important point that for Christians, there is no such thing as objective abandonment. The Scriptures are replete with promise after promise of God’s constant and forever presence in the life of a Christian. Yet, while this is objectively true, a Christian might feel that God has abandoned them from time to time. Yet, when these dark clouds hover, Christians must fight back, peer through the dark, and remind themselves that no matter what they feel, abandonment is only subjective. God is alive. God is good. God is near. God is not done. Peace and joy are still possible because he will never leave us or forsake us.