The Will of God: Why Feelings Are Not the Final Authority

Many believers sincerely want to walk in the will of God, yet often rely on one familiar question: “Do I have peace?” While peace is important, Scripture shows us that feelings are not a reliable compass for discerning God’s will. In fact, relying on feelings alone can cause us to miss what God is truly saying.

The will of God is not primarily discovered through emotions, but through a renewed mind grounded in the Word of God.

When God Speaks, Peace Often Leaves First

A common assumption is that if something is from God, it will immediately bring peace. But Scripture and experience tell a different story. Often, peace leaves the moment God speaks.

Before God speaks, life may feel calm. But when He calls us to act, to obey, or to step into something beyond our comfort zone, questions arise:

• What if I fail?

• What if this doesn’t work out?

• What if people don’t respond?

This inner unrest does not mean God is absent. More often, it means God is stretching us. Biblical figures like Moses, Gideon, and even Jesus Himself wrestled internally with God’s will. The absence of peace did not mean the absence of God, it meant obedience would require faith.

True peace is not found before obedience, but through surrender.

Feelings Can Deceive, But The Word Anchors

We live in a culture trained to follow feelings:

• I don’t feel like forgiving.

• I don’t feel like going to church.

• I don’t feel like trusting God right now.

  
  

Feelings change. God’s Word does not.

Romans 8 reminds us that a mind governed by the flesh, natural thinking driven by emotion, leads to death, while a mind governed by the Spirit leads to life and peace. Fleshly thinking isn’t only about sinful behavior, it includes any mindset that contradicts God’s Word, even when it feels reasonable.

A renewed mind is essential. Romans 12:2 teaches that transformation comes through the renewal of the mind, enabling us to discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Discernment does not come from emotional reactions but from scriptural understanding.

Knowledge of God’s Will, Not Feelings About It

Paul prays in Colossians 1:9 that believers would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, not feelings about it. This requires more than inspirational verses or daily encouragements. It requires engagement with Scripture, teaching, and truth that challenges our thinking.

Without knowledge, emotions take control. With knowledge, emotions begin to align with truth.

Faith often requires acting while feelings protest. Peace eventually follows obedience. Not the other way around.

Peace: Power, Not Comfort

Biblical peace is not the absence of conflict, it is strength in the midst of it. God’s peace is power - rest from the enemy. Not comfort manufactured by avoidance.

Colossians 3:15 speaks of peace ruling like an umpire within the body of Christ, especially in matters of forgiveness, unity, and love. This peace is relational and spiritual, not a personal emotional signal for decision-making.

Man-made peace avoids confrontation. God’s peace confronts truth and produces freedom.

Growth Comes Through Discomfort

Spiritual maturity requires training. Hebrews 12:11 teaches that discipline is painful, not pleasant, but it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness afterward. God uses pressure, trials, and uncomfortable obedience to shape Christ within us.

If forgiveness is difficult, God will train us in forgiveness.

If trust is weak, God will train us in trust.

Avoidance keeps us weak, obedience strengthens us.

James 1:2-4 tells us to count trials as joy, not because they feel good, but because they produce maturity. When the goal is Christlikeness, storms are no longer enemies, they become instruments of transformation.

The Will of God Requires a Renewed Mind

The will of God is not discerned by asking, “How do I feel?”

It is discerned by asking, “What does the Word say?”

Feelings may resist.

Fear may rise.

Peace may come later.

But when truth is believed and obeyed, peace follows, and that peace carries power.

The Word works when we work it.

The will of God is revealed through Scripture, confirmed through obedience, and sustained by a renewed mind - not by fluctuating emotions.