Skip to main content

Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt


 "Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe." ~ Augustine


"I doubt they'll get my order right."
"I doubt it will be here on time."
"I doubt my voice will even be heard"
"I doubt they'll notice."
"I'll believe it when I see it."


⁇  Look at all the ways we doubt during a typical day.   Doubt is such a powerful word.  According to the Oxford dictionary, that's when we are uncertain or don't have a lack of conviction.  Of course there's so many frivolous times it doesn't matter, but when it has to do with our faith, it's life-changing.



⁇ The devil loves to sow seeds of doubt and despair.  From the Garden of Eden, he loves us to question what God has promised to us, what God's intentions are, who God is.  Just as Jesus answered the devil in the wilderness, we can always look to God's word for truth and answers.


 From the devil: Does God really love me? 
From God:  John 3:16


 From the devil: Does God really want what's best for me? 
From God: Jeremiah 29:11


 From the devil: Does the Bible really apply to me? 


 From the devil: Does God really forgive me? 
From God: 1 John 1:9

 From the devil: Is God really beside me? 
From God: Psalm 23


Doubt is not unnatural, and Jesus spoke about it several times, so He must have known we would need to hear His guidance.  He cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit (representative of Israel rejecting Him as Messiah)-

"And Jesus told them, 'I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more.  You can even say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen.' You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it."  Matt 21;21-22




⁇ When Peter started sinking in the water after taking His eyes off of Jesus, 

"Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him, 'You of little 
faith,' He said,'Why did you doubt?" Matt 14:31

But God can handle our doubt - He doesn't curse us.  Look how Jude, the brother of Jesus, encourages us-

"And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering." Jude 1:22

God gave us His Spirit to combat doubt and the devil-

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."  2 Tim 1:7

⁇ When life comes at us, our human nature is to doubt.  But our response can be Christ-like:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." Jam 1:5-6

God is good, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

✙ Heavenly Father, You know us so well.  You are so merciful when we doubt and You gently guide us back to You.  Help us to dig our roots deeper into You through Your Word when we doubt by resisting the devil's attempts to thwart our relationship with You.  Amen.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Fight Back the Darkness

  Crosswalk image Nothing makes Satan weak in the knees more than when we are on our knees."   ~ Skip Heitzig, Pastor Death.  Killing.  Violence.  What do we do with such heavy hearts in such a dark time? With the knot in our throats and the pit in our stomachs that are weighing on our souls?  When we look around us, nothing on this broken earth can fill our void of sadness and despair.   So we look up to the One who created all things and who alone has the power to bring light and help: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.   What does help look like?  When does it come?  How much will we get?  Anger, confusion, bitterness, hostility, helplessness and fear overcome us in different ways and at different times.  We want reasons- we ask, "Why, Lord, why?" We instinctively want a reckoning- someone to pay for the injustice that has happened....
2 comments
Read more

Knocking on Heaven's Door

  "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." ~ Troy Ramey, artist My mom knocked on heaven's door this week, and was let in.  She had lived 94 years on this earth- through the Great Depression, tragedy, and a host of health issues- but plodded on with feistiness and a sense of humor. My mourning wasn't the only woe being experienced this week- miscarriages, mental illness, broken family relationships, fear of uncertainty - all woes this broken world has handed out to people I love.  And the prince of this world loves to throw them at us relentlessly.  Lord, how do we endure? How do we fight back the tendency to grow tired of it and let it rob us of our  joy? We ask God to give us the fruit of self-control and guard our minds.    "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."...
2 comments
Read more

The Power of 4

"Mathematics is the language with which  God  has  ruled the universe." ~ Galileo . Go back with me to a quick math lesson recall from Geometry (stay with me, it's short I promise).    Straight logic, right?  Let's apply one of the principles our Almighty God, the great Mathematician who designed numbers and the universe and our minds, created.   (a) - He knew we would need advice, help and support on this earth, in this broken life. (b) -  He gave us His Holy Scriptures, His Word, that miraculously survived over the years, to guide us. (c) -   He gave us the Holy Spirit as our "advocate", to help us understand His Word. So, therefore, our support, guidance and help comes by way of the Holy Spirit guiding us as we read the Bible- the holy, inspired Word of God.  Isn't math awesome? Don't just take this from an 8th grade math teacher.  Even man-made institutes support the benefits of reading the bible frequently, conclud...
Post a Comment
Read more