Mar Mari Emmanuel teaches that God always hears His children, especially in their darkest trials, and calls believers to trust in faith rather than feelings during spiritual struggles.
In this devotional sermon, Mar Mari Emmanuel addresses the deep struggles believers face when they feel abandoned by God. He encourages listeners to rely on faith instead of fluctuating feelings and assures them of God's unwavering presence and grace during trials. Through honest reflection and biblical insight, the speaker reveals how spiritual growth often comes through hardship and how God's promises remain faithful even in the darkest seasons.
Full Transcript
I'm in a season that feels like absolute hell. I'm in a season that feels like absolute hell. I caused it.
I am growing in a way I've never grown. Is there a way to bear this hell better? And feels like Christ is silent or no grace. Yes, I hear you.
I hear you, my child. But here you're saying you caused it. I caused it.
And I'm growing in a way I've never grown. Is there a way to bear this hell better? The Lord is not going to put you through a trial that is unbearable, where you will fail 100%. The Lord will only permit trials that will come your way where you can handle it, but with somewhat struggle.
And in the midst of that struggle, the Lord is actually helping you. Otherwise, it is impossible for us to bear any trial, no matter how small they are. Without the Lord's grace, it is impossible.
So for you, and you use the word feel, and so honest you are, exactly this is how you feel. But let me say this to you, my child. Do not follow Christ with feelings.
Follow Christ with faith, not feelings. Because our feelings are like a yo-yo. One day I'm up here, the next I'm down there.
One day I am as hot as summer in my faith in Christ, and another day I am absolutely frozen like the Antarctic region, absolutely iceberg. So if I'm going to follow Christ with my feelings, I'll get absolutely nowhere. I'll lose Him.
You need to follow Christ with faith. So therefore, sometimes it is good to be in kind of a hell-y situation. It's all right.
Because that hell, that feeling of hell, is actually making you grow spiritually. And at the end of it, you'll come out much wiser, much stronger, much more resistant to worldly matters. Much more resistant to worldly matters.
But the Lord knows how much you can handle. And the moment He sees you're gonna fall, He comes to rescue you before you blink your eyes and relieves you from whatever hell you're going through. And I pray whoever wrote this question, I pray the Lord Jesus relieves you from that hell right now.
According to His divine will, I pray He relieves you and makes you feel His holy presence and makes you feel His grace has been always carrying you, even when you felt absolute desert, deserted, silent, lost, confused, disorientated. Let me tell you, the grace of the Lord never leaves you. Absolutely never.
If the Lord leaves, I'm finished. It's not I'm gonna struggle. No, no, no.
It'll be the end of me if the Lord leaves me. So even when I'm struggling badly, it feels like hell. Yeah? The grace of the Lord is still carrying me.
Otherwise, I would have been gone a long, long time ago. Prior to the incident, I thought I had maybe somewhat faith in the Lord. After the incident, the Lord wanted to teach me a lesson.
Even if you thought, Bishop, that you had faith in me, it was me. I'm going to show you what you're going to do without me. Or I'll make you feel that I have totally detached myself from you.
It's only a feeling. But let me see what you're going to do, how you're going to handle yourself in that moment where you feel your Lord has forsaken you. Can I show you the slightest of the slightest faith we have? I can assure you, my beloved, it is from the Lord Jesus.
Nothing was from you. Because I realized that after the incident, it's all the Lord. It's all of me.
So yeah, don't worry. The Lord is teaching us one thing profound. He wants us not to focus on the situation, but focus on the Lord himself.
Because if you're going to focus on the situation, then you will drift away 100%. Because the situation is hell, as you mentioned. So if I'm focusing on hell, how do you think I'm going to feel? I'm going to feel like hell.
I'm going to think like hell. I'm going to live like hell. I'm going to walk like hell.
And I'm going to treat everyone around me like hell. So don't focus on the situation, because everything will become pitch black. You're losing hope here.
But focus on the one who said, I will not leave you orphans. I am with you all the days of your life and until the end of all ages. The one who promised that he's with you in the good times and the bad times.
His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This is the true living God who was revealed in the flesh in the end of times over 2020 odd years. He's never left you.
He made a promise. And since he's God, he is faithful and loyal to his promise. So hell, hell, who cares? Enjoy hell while you can.
Let me tell you one thing. The dark tunnels teach you things the light cannot and vice versa. Don't ever think success always is healthy.
It's not true. It's only a wishful thinking. It's only an imaginary thing.
Failures are as good as successes.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Reality of Spiritual Trials
- Trials are permitted by God within our capacity to bear
- Struggles are part of spiritual growth
- Feelings can be misleading in faith
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II. Faith Over Feelings
- Feelings fluctuate like a yo-yo
- Following Christ requires faith, not emotional responses
- God’s grace sustains us even when we feel abandoned
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III. God's Faithfulness in Darkness
- God never leaves or forsakes His children
- Dark seasons teach lessons light cannot
- Focus on God’s promises rather than circumstances
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IV. Spiritual Growth Through Trials
- Trials produce wisdom and resistance to worldly matters
- Failures are as valuable as successes
- God’s grace carries us through every hardship
Key Quotes
“Follow Christ with faith, not feelings.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“The grace of the Lord never leaves you. Absolutely never.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“The dark tunnels teach you things the light cannot and vice versa.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
Application Points
- Trust God’s faithfulness even when you feel abandoned or overwhelmed.
- Choose to follow Christ by faith, not by your changing emotions.
- View trials as opportunities for spiritual growth and deeper reliance on God.
