Faith, Not Feelings, Pleases God
凭信心不凭感觉，蒙神悦纳
May 3, 2017
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21 NIV).
“我赤身出于母胎，也必赤身归回。赏赐的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华；耶和华的名是应当称颂的。”（伯1:21 和修）
When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centered prayers so you’ll know he exists. But as you grow in faith, he will wean you of these dependencies.
当你还是一个刚刚成为基督徒的时候，上帝给了你许多指引，并且回应了你许多不成熟、自我为中心的祷告，所以你会知道他的真实。但是当你在信心中成长的时候，他就会断掉这些依赖。
God’s omnipresence and the manifestation of his presence are two different things. One is a fact; the other is often a feeling. God is always present, even when you are unaware of him, and his presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.
上帝的无所不在和上帝的显现，是他存在的两种不同的事情。一个是真实的，另一个则常常是一种感觉。甚至当你不认识上帝的时候，他永远都在那里。他的存在也成为信心单纯的测验。
Yes, he wants you to sense his presence, but he’s more concerned that you trust him than that you feel him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.
使得，他想要你感知到他的存在，但是更关心你对他的信心强于你对他的感觉。凭信心不凭感觉，这是蒙神悦纳的。
The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job. On a single day he lost everything — his family, his business, his health, and everything he owned. Most discouraging, for 37 chapters, God said nothing!
当你生活崩溃并且找不到上帝的时候，这会使你扩张你的信心。这样的事情就发生在约伯的身上。就在一天中，他失去了一切————他的家庭，他的事业，他的健康，以及一切他拥有的。最令人沮丧的是，在前37章中，上帝保持了沉默！
How do you praise God when you don’t understand what’s happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they’re full of tears? You do what Job did: “Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’” (Job 1:20b-21 NIV).
在你不能理解发生在你身上的事情，并且上帝沉默的时候，你怎么去赞美上帝呢？不通过交流你又如何与基督保持联系呢？当你眼里饱含泪水的时候，你又如何定睛耶稣呢？你应该与约伯做了同样的事，“约伯便起来，撕裂外袍，剃了头，伏在地上下拜，说：‘我赤身出于母胎，也必赤身归回。赏赐的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华；耶和华的名是应当称颂的。’”（伯1:20-21 和修）
Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour out your heart to God. Unload every emotion that you’re feeling. Job did this when he said, “I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak” (Job 7:11 GNT).
直接告诉上帝你的真实感受。想上帝倾诉你的心。卸下你所有的情绪。当约伯说“我不禁止我口；我灵愁苦，要发出言语；我心苦恼，要吐露哀情”（伯7:11 和修）的时候他做到了这些。
He cried out when God seemed distant: “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house” (Job 29:4 NIV).
当上帝看似遥远的时候，他大声呼喊：“我愿如壮年的时候，那时我在帐棚中， 神待我有密友之情”（伯29:4 和修）。
God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions. You can bring everything to him in prayer.
上帝可以处理你的怀疑、愤怒、恐惧、悲伤、困惑和问题。你可以把一切通过祷告带给他。
Talk It Over
讨论问题
In what ways can you show God that you trust him even when you don’t feel his presence?
即使在你感觉不到他存在的时候，你如何向上帝彰显你的信心？
What are some of the things you can praise God for, even when you don’t understand what’s happening in your life?
即使你不了解在它为什么发生在你的生命中，你可以为哪些事情感谢上帝？