“BOUTS WITH DOUBTS”
INTRODUCTION: I’m sure we’ve all used the phrase, “I doubt it” or, “I have my doubts”. To doubt something is to challenge its authenticity. It means I’m finding it very difficult to believe. It signifies skepticism or uncertainty; our suspicion over the unlikelihood of something being possible or true. To have doubt signifies a lack of faith and trust in something or someone. Having doubts is normal when something is questionable or unproven. If we believed everything that anyone told us we would not be wise. Like if I was in the checkout line and the tabloid in front of me said that Elvis was spotted in a Denny’s in California my reaction should be, ‘I doubt it’. Doubt is okay in some areas. However, having doubts about God is not okay and is something we need to rid ourselves of so that our relationship with him can be rooted in trust.
1) What’s the problem with doubt?
• Doubt=instability. James 1:2-8. The word doubt comes from the same root as the word double. To doubt means to be double-minded. A double-minded man is a person drawn in two opposite directions. Because of his lack of sincerity, he sways between belief and disbelief, sometimes thinking that God will help him and at other times giving up all hope in Him. There’s a difference between believing that God can and believing that he will. I can believe God can do something, but I leave it up to him. It might not be his will. This is different. What James is talking about is the person who is just praying but not believing God has the power to actually accomplish what he’s asking. I’m praying for wisdom but since I’m divided in my mind between the world and God then I’m not thinking God is the true source of wisdom and therefore my doubt signifies my unbelief. It’s like if I go into something thinking I’m going to fail then I set myself up to fail because of my doubt. Therefore, if I pray without believing then I shouldn’t think I will receive anything because I’m double-minded and unstable; a doubter.
• Doubt is debilitating. Matt. 17:14-21. Earlier in chapter 10, Jesus sent out his disciples giving them the power to drive out evil spirits and heal disease and sickness. So why couldn’t they do here what Jesus has given them the power to do earlier? Because of their doubt, their lack of faith. Someone once said, “Doubters invert the metaphor and insist that they need faith as big as a mountain in order to move a mustard seed.” We have the power to move spiritual mountains but our lack of faith, our doubts, bind that power. We can do amazing things through God’s power if we believe and don’t doubt. But, if we have doubt, we will not be able to exercise the power that is in us thus leaving ourselves weak and hindered. Remember when Jesus walked on water and Peter wanted to come to him and Jesus told him to come on? Peter got out of the boat and he was walking on water! But when Peter noticed the wind and the waves he began to sink. Peter started to sink because of his bout with doubt. He lost the ability to do the miraculous because of his doubt. Jesus said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Doubt means I have a lack of faith and a lack of faith will debilitate me. Jesus wants us to understand the significance of doubt and how it debilitates us.
• Doubt keeps us from receiving blessings. In Numbers 13&14, we read about Joshua and Caleb’s report of the land that God had promised to the Israelites. God had told them that the land was theirs but when the report came back that there were huge people living there who were very powerful the people got scared. Caleb tried to dispel their doubts by saying they could certainly take possession of the land. But his faith did not remove the doubts of the rest. Instead of trusting in God they wanted to choose another leader and go back to Egypt, their land of slavery! Joshua and Caleb tried to persuade them again by saying, “don’t be afraid; we can do this. The Lord is with us, don’t rebel against him”. But they still wouldn’t listen. In fact, they wanted to kill them! Then God spoke up and said, “How long will these people refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?” As a result of their unbelief, God kept them from entering the promised-land. They were kept from the blessings of the land of milk and honey and made to wander in the desert because they chose to doubt rather than believe. When we doubt God’s power or ability to provide we deprive ourselves of the blessings he has waiting for us. When we doubt God and resort to our way of doing things we shortchange ourselves and end up frustrated and unfulfilled. Shakespeare said, “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” Doubt deprives us of blessings.
• Doubt can lead to hardheartedness. Hebrews 3:12-15. Having doubt is okay if your desire is to know the truth. However, if you’re a hardhearted cynic who questions things not because you’re looking for answers but merely to mock and jest then that’s not okay. If I’m hardhearted I look for reasons to doubt. I’ll expect God to meet my demands and answer all my questions. And when he doesn’t I’ll harden my heart and doubt his very existence. And if I doubt the existence of God I’m going to live a life of confusion and disappointment because I will forever be searching for truth and fulfillment. I will never be satisfied, never content, never finding my true purpose. I will have this void deep down in my heart that will never be filled because I’ve chosen to doubt. This is how it was for many who had seen Jesus perform miracles. John 12:37, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him”. When doubt leads you to harden your heart and choose not to believe even though the evidence has proven its authenticity it is severely damaging.
2) We need to be merciful to those who doubt. Jude 1:22, “Be merciful to those who doubt.” There are different things that create doubt. Someone might have had a loved one taken from them and now they doubt the existence or love of God. Perhaps they had a bad thing happen to them so since God didn’t stop it they doubt his power. Maybe they had a bad church experience so they doubt there are any good ones out there. Whatever the reasons, we need to be sensitive to them. If we just say, “Well, get over it; you shouldn’t be that way. You just need to have faith”, then we aren’t being sensitive to someone’s hurts or insecurities. There might come a time where we need to be more direct with someone whom we know and has been in the faith for a while but even then we need to be loving in our approach. We need to try to help someone get to the root causes of their doubts so they can overcome them and be free. Helping someone with their doubts is going to require discernment, patience and a merciful, loving spirit.
3) How do we win our bout with doubt?
• We need to stop overanalyzing. If you’re waiting to figure everything out before you come to Christ then you’ll never come to him. Lee Strobel, former atheist turned apologist said, “Because we are limited people with limited minds, we can’t understand everything about our unlimited God. So there are bound to be some questions that we have to wait to get full and complete answers to.” 1st Cor. 13:12, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” If we could figure everything out about God then he wouldn’t be God. And furthermore, if we could figure everything out, there would be no need for faith. Heb. 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” If we’re going to win our bout with doubt we need to stop overanalyzing and insisting we figure everything out before we trust God.
• We need to believe. John 20:19-20, 24-31. Last week I asked the question, are you amazed? Here we are, one week later and perhaps you’re still not amazed with Jesus. Maybe that’s because you still have some doubts about him. Well, in this passage, it is one week after Jesus’ resurrection. And Thomas had some doubts. He wasn’t amazed at this point. The other Apostles had been visited by the resurrected Jesus but Thomas had missed out. Thomas was somewhere, we don’t know where, but in any event he missed out. Unfortunately he didn’t believe them. He wouldn’t take their testimony as being valid. Unless he saw for himself he wouldn’t believe. Jesus could’ve been like, “I’m not going to show you. If you won’t trust the ones who have been your closest companions for the past three years then that’s on you. If you don’t believe you don’t believe. In fact, I’m kinda hurt that you would only believe it if I showed you.” Instead, Jesus made a special appearance so Thomas could see for himself. But, he did wait a week before he did it. This would’ve allowed Thomas to develop even more skepticism. ‘Well, a whole week has gone by and where is he? I think you guys are delusional.’ Then Jesus appears. Now imagine you’re Thomas at this point. Think of the range of emotion Thomas would be going through. The initial shock, then excitement, then maybe shame that he had doubted and finally the fear that Jesus was going to light into him for his lack of faith. But Jesus approaches Thomas, knowing his human heart and doesn’t chastise him, he ministers to him. And fortunately, Thomas had the right response. It’s interesting; Thomas goes from being the major skeptic to making the greatest statement of faith. Today, people are skeptical even though they have the biblical accounts that continue to be proven both archaeologically and scientifically. There are many ‘doubting Thomas’ out there and they want proof. And Jesus, like he did with Thomas, obliges. He might not come like he did then, but he will reveal himself to those who wish to see for themselves. The question is, when Jesus does reveal himself, will the skeptics continue in their unbelief and over analytical ways, explaining away their experience or will they respond like Thomas and say to Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God’? Josh McDowell once said "My heart cannot rejoice in what my mind rejects." If we are to win our bout with doubt we need to believe.
• We need to know and trust his word. When people ask us questions concerning our faith we can simply say, “Well, that’s just what I believe.” The problem with that is that someone might come up with a fine sounding argument that raises concerns that could turn into doubts. We need to become educated on what the bible teaches that would refute people’s arguments against him and his word. This is what apologetics is centered around. The ability to adequately defend God and our belief system. There are certain concepts that we might not be able to fully wrap our brain around like the Trinity or the fact that God had no beginning. We might not be able to provide all the proof that God exists. But there is plenty more evidence to support that there is a God than indicators to suppose that there isn’t one. In fact someone once coined the phrase, ‘I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist’. However, once I know his word, I still need to trust it. Doubts can creep in concerning the truth of God’s word. But, if we’re going to overcome doubt then we need to accept what God’s word says. His word that says I am unconditionally loved. His word that says if I’ve trusted Christ to save me then my identity is not a guilty sinner, but a saint. His word that says I can do everything through God’s power that is at work in me. When satan’s voice or our feelings try to convince us otherwise, we need to stand on the truth of God’s word. If we are going to win our bout with doubt we need to know and trust God’s word.
• We need to remember. The Israelites refused to believe God in spite of all the miraculous signs he had given them. We need to recall all the times God has come through for us. Times when we were stuck in a predicament and God came to our rescue. “Yeah, but I’m doubtful because there were times he didn’t come through for me. What about that?” Well, was it that he didn’t come through for you or that he didn’t do what you wanted him to do? Story of the man on the roof in a flood waiting for God to rescue him. God sent a boat and helicopter. When we’re like, “Well, he came through for me that time but this is a different situation”, we are losing our bout with doubt. The God that has gotten us this far is the same God that will get us the rest of the way; if we believe and not doubt.
CONCLUSION: We have all had ‘bouts with doubts’. Perhaps you’re having one right now. Maybe you doubt that Jesus will come through for you in your time of need. Maybe you doubt his love for you. Maybe you doubt your position in him. Whatever your doubt is Jesus wants to remove it. He wants you to win your ‘bout with doubt’.
