Healer: A 7-Day Devotional With Casting CrownsSampel

Not only should God’s Word serve as our counsel, but it also has to be where we go for our convictions.

People have a lot of convictions these days. Goodness gracious, do we ever have convictions. I’ve literally experienced someone talk to me in tears over how they just can’t handle the impact of plastic straws on the environment, so they were going on a quest to get rid of plastic straws. I thought to myself, “That’s good, because we have so many sea turtles in McDonough, Georgia that we desperately need you here.”

It used to be that if you were going to share your convictions with somebody you had to look them in the face. It’s amazing how peaceful and thoughtful and loving we thought we were before social media. We weren’t really—we were just too afraid to say what we were thinking. Now we’re at home with our thumbs, and we are warriors. The Bible contains plenty of convictions and truth, but we should remember it is all delivered through love.If I get my convictions from hashtags and websites, I’ll end up somewhere in the spiritual weeds every time. We must get our convictions from God’s Word alone.

God’s Word also has to be our compass, where we go for direction. Pros and cons lists and counsel from godly friends are great, but people tend to give advice at crucial moments based on what happened to them.

When I was trying to decide whether to go to Bible college, not a single voice told me it was a good idea. As a learning disabled kid barely surviving school, I didn’t read music. For some reason, I wanted to go to a ministry school to study music. All I had was this verse in 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul prayed that God would take away a personal trial. He prayed three times for God to take it away, but what does God say to him? “My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Do you know what God said to Paul there? He said, “I’m not going to heal you like you asked.” It had nothing to do with Paul’s lousy faith. It had everything to do with God’s purpose.

Apparently, God had a little bit bigger plan than Paul did.

I read that verse and told God, “If you’ll make me read better and process better, I’ll go.” That was my bargaining chip with God. But when I kept taking my feelings to his Word, I had to face the truth. His power was sufficient for me, whatever my thorn in the flesh.

Our feelings are valid, but that doesn’t make them true. God’s Word is true. It has to guide my decisions, direct me when I’m hurting, help me handle difficult moments, inform how I respond to my spouse and kids, and teach me how to deal with challenges at work. Through his Word, God provides my counsel, my convictions, and my compass.