When faced with any decision or choice in life, we operate from one of three positions: faith, reason, or emotion.
Faith flows from the spirit of a man or woman. God endows us with faith so we can make right choices related to
Him. Reason and emotion flow from the soul of man—from what we often term the mind and the heart. Man experiences
thoughts and feelings in his soul.
Thoughts and feelings are not eternal. They are related directly to the information, perceptions, and physical
sensations we have at a moment in time. Because of this, our thoughts and feelings can vary widely, according to
time and circumstances. We often have competing thoughts and feelings, and we base our thoughts and feelings to
a great extent on the thoughts and feelings of others who are close to us.
Faith says in the face of a situation, “This is what God says.”
Reason says, “This is what I think and what seems right to me.”
Emotion says, “This is how I feel right now and I am going to go with my feelings and do what feels good.”
Faith, reason, and emotion are all related, of course. It's virtually impossible to separate them at times.
But what we are concerned about in dealing with the devil is the fact that the devil never appeals to our faith.
He only appeals to our reason and emotions. Furthermore, he attempts at all times to drive a wedge between faith
and reason/emotions.
When we honor and obey God in a situation, God works to bring our reason and emotions in line with our faith.
When we obey the devil, we are fragmented and confused.
God Values Reason and Emotion
God is not opposed to reason, or to our using our minds or expressing our feelings. Quite the contrary. God
desires for us to be reasonable and emotionally healthy people. God's laws are extremely reasonable and logical.
When a person fully obeys God's laws he or she experiences great joy.
What God desires is that we reason with Him, not apart from Him. In fact, the Scriptures tell us He invites
us to reason with Him: “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18). The very next verse describes the consequences
to obedience and disobedience in this matter:
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword. (Isa. 1:19–20)
God very much wants us to understand that His thoughts, plans, and methods are greater than anything we could
imagine:
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways.…
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:8–9)
No matter how much we know about a particular issue or situation, we cannot know as much as God knows about
it. As much as we might love another person and desire good on his or her behalf, we cannot love that person as
much as God does. When we rely on our human emotions and reasoning ability, rather than submitting these to God
and responding with our faith, we shortchange ourselves. And the devil delights anytime we deny God, ignore God,
or fail to experience God's best.
• Can you cite an experience in your life in which you discovered that God's plan, methods, or blessing was
different and greater than anything you had imagined or anticipated?
The First Faith vs. Reason Conflict
The first instance in which we see faith and reason in conflict in the Scriptures is in the Garden of Eden.
Satan, in the guise of a beautiful and cunning serpent, came to Eve and said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall
not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And Eve replied, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch
it, lest you die.’ ” The serpent told Eve, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (See Gen. 3:1–5.)
Satan appealed to Eve's reasoning ability. He introduced doubt—perhaps God didn't really mean what He had said;
or perhaps God was holding out on Eve and not giving her everything that was for her good.
Eve made a decision based on her reasoning ability, not on her faith in God. Throughout history, we have continued
to make Eve's mistake.
• Can you cite instances in which you have made important decisions based on reason or emotion, rather than
on faith?
Accepting and Obeying God's Absolutes
The world that Satan governs has no tolerance for God's absolutes. Consider these four issues:
• Prayer in schools
• Abortion policies
• Sexual identity
• Financial debt
In each of these areas, people argue ardently from both reason and emotion. These highly volatile issues generate
all manner of opinions and feelings in people. Answers, decisions, and public policies often are made on the basis
of intellectual, “logical” reasoning. Individual decisions and attitudes very often are rooted in the way a person
feels about the issue. People can argue all facets of these issues, and usually the more they argue their position,
the more heated they become in their expression.
The alternative is to ask, “What does God say?”
What does the Bible say about prayer? Is it good? Is it good for children? Is it appropriately applied to learning?
What does the Bible say about taking innocent human life? What does the Bible say about bearing children and
nurturing them in godly principles? What does the Bible say about fornication, incest, and rape?
What does the Bible say about homosexual behavior?
What does the Bible say about borrowing and lending?
The biblical views on most issues of life are nearly always simple, straightforward, and easy to understand.
God's commandments are not shrouded in mystery. Even a young child can understand the Ten Commandments. The problem
is not that we don't know God's opinion. The problem is that we don't want to obey what God says to do and not
do.
Anytime we know what to do and then fail to do it, we are in rebellion against God. That is a very dangerous
position.
What the Word Says
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them
Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward (Ps. 19:7–11)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Say now to the rebellious house: “Do you not know what these things mean?” … But he rebelled against him.… Will
he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?” (Ezek. 17:12,
15)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land (Num. 14:9)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God … that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of
the LORD
our God (Jer. 42:6)
What the Word Says to Me
Faith Is the Only Way to Know God
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was writing to Greeks who held reasoning and logic in very high regard.
They were specialists in “the wisdom of man.” The message of the Cross made no sense to them. Paul said to them:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise , / And bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? … The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men. (1 Cor. 1:18–20, 25)
Reasoning is not the way we come to know God or to understand Him. Why? Because the human mind cannot comprehend
God. All false religions assume otherwise. They believe that if you only hone the intellect so that it is sharp
enough, then you can analyze and understand God. They subject the intellect to a performance criterion.
Every false religious system or cult is based on performance—on meeting certain standards. A person is told
what to do, for how long, and to what degree. None of it works. Why? Because when you are facing an infinite, omniscient,
omnipotent God, how can you possibly know when you have done enough, know enough, or have achieved enough? There
is no way a finite creature with a finite brain can know or calculate the expectations of an infinite God.
Only by faith can we come to understand God—in other words, when we believe that God is just and righteous
and merciful and loving and forgiving solely on the basis that this is what He said about Himself. Faith
is believing that God has resources and evidence that we can't know, don't know, and may never know.
To a person who is attempting to find a logical way to God, the Cross is not going to make any sense at all.
To the person who hopes to “feel” his or her way into God's presence, the Cross is going to be repulsive. And yet
this is the means that God has chosen for the redemption of humankind. We must believe in God and believe that
God knows best, not only for us but for every other person.
God's Illogical Methods
God's laws and commandments are highly logical. God's methods very often are not. Consider these possibilities:
•In facing a major battle against a formidable foe, an army commander is told to have his troops circle a city
once a day for six days, and then circle it seven times on the seventh day, after which the troops are to blow
trumpets and shout. The commander obeys and so do the troops. When the trumpets are sounded and the shouts are
voiced, the walls of the city tumble and a victory is won.
•A leader is faced with a difficult situation. He has led thousands upon thousands of people out into a wilderness
area. Now, in front of him is a sea of water. Approaching his people from the rear are the most powerful forces
of Pharaoh, which are intent upon capturing the people and returning them to slavery. God tells the leader to put
his rod into the water. He does so. The people walk across on dry ground.
•A young wife is facing a death sentence and opts to fast and pray, and then to host two dinner parties for
her husband and her archenemy. In the course of the second dinnertime conversation, she openly accuses her enemy,
and in the end her own life is spared, along with the lives of her people.
•Three young leaders are told that they must bow to a statue that has been built by the emperor they serve.
They are told that if they refuse they will be thrown into a fiery furnace. They refuse, nonetheless, and God allows
them to be thrown into the furnace. They live through the experience, coming out of the furnace without even the
smell of smoke on their clothes.
Do any of these situations make any intellectual sense? No! They are contrary to logic and reasoning.
Do any of these situations make sense in light of normal emotional responses? No! The normal emotional response
would be to cave in to fear and seek an alternative plan.
By faith, however, Joshua, Moses, Esther, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego scored mighty victories that
brought glory to God. What God asked them to do—march around a city and shout, put a rod into the water, prepare
a couple of banquets, and be thrown into a fiery furnace—was highly illogical and against normal human emotional
response. Actions based solely on faith, however, brought about good results for God's people and the elimination
of God's enemies.
What the Word Says
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23–24)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and
by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses
(Acts 13:38–39)
What the Word Says to Me
Refuse to Be Blinded
When we seek to understand God through reason alone, our reasoning efforts blind us to God. Paul wrote:
If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded,
who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
on them. (2 Cor. 4:3–4)
As long as we demand that logic be followed, we cannot accept much of the Bible, for it simply does not make
sense to us. Nobody can pull this blindfold from our eyes. Each of us must come to the conclusion for ourselves:
“Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” We are incapable of seeing the fullness of God's truth until we take this
first step.
• In what ways are you feeling challenged in your spirit?
No Excuses
The devil continually tempts us to justify our sins and to reason away our faith. He constantly entices us to
respond to our emotions—especially fear, anger, and hatred—rather than to respond with faith. Don't listen to him!
Choose to respond with your faith.
When you respond with faith in Jesus Christ, you put your adversary on the run.
• What new insights do you have into your adversary and how to overcome him?
From Overcoming the Enemy: Discover God's Plan for Winning Spiritual
Battles by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1997 by Charles Stanley.
