Its Bible time; get out your Bibles and read James 1:6-7!
Harsh right? In case you aren’t able to get to your Bible right now we’re going to go over the first passage. “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.” (ESV) I hate to think my faith is like a wave of the sea. I want my faith to be strong and stable but the truth is, we all doubt. When we are faced with trials, it’s easy to blame God saying, “If He loves me, why would he do this to me?”. Another kind of doubt is the one that denies God’s existence completely. No matter how you doubt or what you’re doubting about it can tear down your faith and kill the fire inside.
Often when I think about God having no end and no beginning I start to doubt. When a small child who never had the chance to live dies of cancer, I doubt. Things that are hurtful and don’t make sense to us make us doubt. Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding..” (ESV) Trust in the Lord and have faith when you doubt. Put your doubts aside and realize we aren’t able to understand all of God.
Matthew 21:21 “And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.’ ” (ESV) Having doubtless faith allows you to accomplish much more. As we mentioned, doubt can ruin your faith that’s why it’s important to stay away from doubt, as far away as possible. If you’re dealing with doubt, pray. Pray specifically for the things that are causing this doubt and ask God to steer your mind back to confidence in his love. Another thing you can do is talk to someone about your doubt, don’t be ashamed of it because everyone deals with it.
Our song today is by called “You Are More” by Tenth Avenue North. This song has endless meaning and in the second verse it says “..she tries to believe it, that she’s been given new life, but she can’t shake the feeling that it’s not true tonight.” I want you to know that it is true, He loves you. When listening to this song, keep in mind all the doubt that has challenged your faith. Give it up to God.
The Bible talks a lot about doubt, other verses are; Matthew 14:31 & Luke 23:38. Our God is a loving, understanding God. He knows when you doubt and He is not angry with you for that but He wants you to trust Him and believe His in His works. One of my most favorite and inspiring Bible verses is John 20:27 "Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (ESV)
Dear Lord,
Take my doubting heart and disbelief.
Jude 1:22,
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Thank you for sharing. I talked a couple weeks ago about doubt to my kids at youth group. I think that it is important, as you say, to get as far away from doubt as possible. Ignoring it will not help. I like to think of faith like working out. When you work out (i.e. running, lifting weights, etc) you are actually tearing down your muscle. Then it rebuilds itself and heals stronger than before. I think if we attack doubts and ask questions as opposed to ignoring out doubts then our faith may be shaken but will only come back strong.
ReplyDeleteThanks Larissa!