Stand Firm in Doubt
May 26, 2019
For many people, a major stumbling block to faith in Jesus is that it means you have to believe Jesus rose from the dead. If you’ve been a believer for a long time, that may sound absurd, “of course He rose from the dead.” You may take it as a fact, but if you think about Jesus rising from the dead, it sounds like some type of science fiction movie, where the main character is somehow killed but really isn’t.
Last week we started a short series looking at using our faith to help us be immovable in the face of life’s struggles. I’m calling this series STAND FIRM! As we plant our feet and stand firm in the face of whatever comes our way.
So, as we start, let’s look at what faith means. In Hebrews 11:1 - we read –
11 Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see. – Hebrews 11:1
Confidence and assurance. There is no doubting in faith. We are confident and have assurance in what we hope for and in what we do not see. That’s faith isn’t it. The dictionary defines faith as - - complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
You see, it’s not just trust or confidence, but it’s COMPLETE trust and confidence. It’s having 100% belief in something or someone. And isn’t that what makes life difficult as well. When we place our trust and confidence in another person and they let us down in some way. We experience that pain. We sometimes have difficulty trusting again because we’ve been hurt. But that’s what makes faith so important.
There was a court case in which a man was being tried for murder. The problem was they never found the body. During the final arguments, his lawyer looked at his watch and said, “In 1 minute the person you think is dead is going to walk through those doors in the back.” Then he didn’t say a word, he looked at his watch and looked at the door. Everyone in the jury looked at the door. One minute passed and nobody came in. The lawyer said, “Actually, I made that whole thing up. But you all looked with anticipation at the door. So there must be reasonable doubt, so you must find my client innocent.”
When the case ended the jury left to deliberate, and they came back about 5 minutes later and they declare the man - - guilty! The lawyer asked how could they find him guilty, they all had doubt since they were all looking at the door. The foreman explained, “we did, but your client never looked at the door.”
It’s easy for someone to put doubt into our hearts and minds. That’s really the job of satan. He loves to do that to us. If he can lead us away, if he can lead us to doubt a little, to have some unreasonable fear, then he’s winning the battle and we are slowly moving more towards doubt than faith.
Remember, this series is based on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection is a condition for believing in Jesus. You cannot say, ‘I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior,’ but not in the resurrection. That’s not true faith. Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10 –
9 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and BELIEVE in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. – Romans 10:9-10
That’s the backbone of our faith. The belief in the resurrection. You believe in your heart that God raised His Son, Jesus from the dead. Faith is believing even when it doesn’t all make sense. How did God do that? I don’t know, I can’t explain it away, but that’s what faith is about. Go back to Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the confidence and assurance in what we hope for and CANNOT SEE.
Not only did the Jewish and Roman leaders not believe in the resurrection, but there was one of His followers who didn’t believe as well. When Jesus first appeared to the disciples, he wasn’t there. He was at Starbucks, on a coffee run ... and he missed Jesus. Let’s look at the story from the gospel of John - -
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails,
and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then Jesus 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.”
28 Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:24-29
You know, I can identify with Thomas. Can’t you? When life is going good . . . when you feel good, when your family is healthy, when school is good, when work is good, when finances are good, when the kids are good, when there’s really no stress in life . . . . let me tell you something about faith - - - it’s really easy to have. How can you not have it when life is good? It’s easy. There’s no worries, so we don’t have to worry about what we can’t see, because we don’t even know it exists. So, life is all good!
But, when any of the above is suffering and struggling, when we’re feeling pressed and stressed, when life isn’t going too smoothly, when the one we thought was our Savior has been placed on a cross and we’re not sure what tomorrow will bring. When we’re afraid, and we’ve locked our doors, hiding and fearful, we tend to run and hide and doubt. It doesn’t mean we’ve lost faith, it just means we’re struggling. We’re confused and questioning.
God doesn’t want us to get stuck in doubting, instead He wants us to overcome those doubts and conquer them so we can stand firm in all times.
So, when those difficult situations or circumstances hit us, we tend to doubt. It’s not where we want to land. Instead, God wants to give us His power to move us from doubt to faith.
There’s a story in Mark about a young man who was very sick. In Mark 9, we read –
17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute.
18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
The father had obvious concern for his son. His son couldn’t speak, he was having seizures, convulsing, falling to the ground, foaming at the mouth. What parent wouldn’t want healing for their child?
The father asked the disciples to heal the boy, but they couldn’t. So, I can imagine they are arguing about why they couldn’t heal the boy and Jesus is frustrated at the disciples. Saying to them -
19 “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
They bring the boy to Jesus - -
21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
I wonder how long the father thought this was hopeless. I wonder how many supposed healers he went to and walked away more frustrated and angry than before. Haven’t we been there too?
We want healing for our marriage and it’s not happening. We want physical healing for ourselves or a loved one. We want reconciliation for a broken relationship, but nobody else does. We want to find a job which helps us feel fulfilled. We want a loved one to turn back to God and stop a life of self-destruction. Whatever it is - - we call out to God and we wonder, maybe just like this father - - “God do you hear me? Do you even see me? Do you know me? Do you care? Do you even love me?”
So, the father says to Jesus – – “IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING.”
The father was doubting. He had been tricked before, maybe paid money to people for special medicine. So, he’s wondering, if you can . . .
So, Jesus looks at the dad, and exclaims,
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ All things are possible for one who believes.”
Nothing is impossible for God. God wants to give us His power. He wants to release it into our lives.
How many times have we called upon God in prayer, but we kind of compormise our prayer with . . . well, Lord, if you can, if you will, if you want . . . In some ways we’re trying to cut our losses. We don’t pray with full confidence. That’s what Jesus was getting at with this father. IF I CAN? Really? Do you know what I can do? Do you know what I’m about to do for your son? Do you know what I’m about to do for the world?
Friends, when we go to Jesus, don’t ask IF YOU CAN? Instead as Paul told us last week in Philippians 4, make your requests known to God. Tell God your deepest dreams and desires. Tell God your longings and pains and hopes and keep your heart open to experience His power and answer.
People also will lead us to doubt because they intellectualize everything. Everything has to be in perfect order and make logical sense. But faith makes no logical sense. I believe that’s one of the big stumbling blocks. If I can’t see God, then I can’t believe in God.
As Paul was ministering to the people in Galatia, they were struggling with people who were teaching them they had to follow the Jewish law if they wanted to be real Christians. Paul was not happy with the situation, and listen to what he wrote,
7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion is not from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. – Galatians 5:7-9
Paul is telling them - - you started out great, but someone is causing you to move away from what is true. God would never call you to come to Him through the law, it’s always through faith that you come to know Jesus. And a little bit of bad advice can really lead you down the wrong path.
Isn’t that true in our faith journey? We listen to the wrong people, we take advice from people who don’t know Jesus, so they don’t give us Godly wisdom. It may even be masked as spiritual wisdom. But what spirit are the consulting? They give us the wisdom of the world. And that wisdom can hurt you more than help you. Let me ask you this question - - -
Why would you ever expect Godly wisdom from someone who doesn’t know and worship God? I’m not saying their wisdom or advice is going to be wrong. But think about it, why would you expect them to give you godly advice? Of course, not all Christians will give you good advice, which is why whatever you do, you need to check it with scripture and through prayer. God will never tell you to do something which goes against His nature and character . . . NEVER!
But doesn’t that impact our faith as well. It’s difficult to stand firm when we’re torn in our decisions. When people are giving us information that’s contrary to God’s word. Sometimes it’s the wisdom of the world, the scientific thoughts in which people are telling us there really is no God. If you can’t prove God exists, then there’s no God. And they push and they badger us . . . and sometimes we begin to doubt ourselves if God is for us.
JOKE ABOUT DOUBTING GOD’S EXISTENCE - - - NO BRAIN
But friends, God is for us. He’s never against us. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to shine, because when we shine, He shines. A little bit of bad advice, a little bit of someone casting doubt into your mind and heart, can lead you to do more doubting, and when that happens, we begin to lose our connection with God and that hurts us.
We should never allow imperfect people, which really is you and I, and everyone else, derail our confidence and faith in a perfect Savior. We all sin, we all let each other down. We will all do and say things which are not correct, which may disappoint others. Sometimes out of malice, but often times just because we don’t know.
We need to fix our attention on Jesus. That’s what we read in Hebrews 12:2 –
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2
We are to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the founder, the author and the perfecter, the Perfect One of our faith. So, put your faith and trust in Jesus. He will never fail you, never forsake you, never walk away from you. People will fail you, and they may forsake you, but Jesus never, never will.
Finally, sometimes, we end up in the spiritual desert. We have those times when it seems our connection with God is breaking up. You know what I mean. You call and you hear static or there’s no service. Not that God ever disconnects from us, but it seems like we’re in a dry desert season.
And when that happens, it can lead us to doubt and not stand firm in Christ. It’s tough to stand firm in Christ when our connection is broken.
Go back to the story about the father and son . . . the father and son were in one of those seasons. There didn’t seem to be a cure for the boy. Life was awful for them. The dad is caring for his son, he’d do anything to bring healing, but it isn’t coming.
I wonder how many desert seasons that dad and son have gone through? When we don’t get the answers we want, we often go through the dry seasons of wandering in the desert. The answers weren’t coming, the healing wasn’t happening.
Can’t you picture the dad telling Jesus, ‘I believe, well . . . I used to believe . . . I think I still kind of believe, but if I was to be really honest right now, I’m not sure anymore Lord! It’s been so tough! But, you know, IF YOU CAN, CAN YOU?!’
After Jesus told the dad, “All things are possible for the one who believes . . .”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” – Mark 9:24
There was something about the way Jesus said, all things are possible that struck the father and caused his doubt to turn into belief. In the end, the boy was healed.
Now, Jesus will not always answer our prayers the way we want. Sometimes, we still have that sick child, or a loved one who dies, or there’s a suffering, or a break up, or joblessness. Whatever it is, it doesn’t mean God has abandoned you. God is still there for you.
As you leave this morning, consider what it is that you doubt. If you doubt, talk to God about it during the week. Give those doubts to God, trust me, He can handle them. Ask God, pray to God for trust, faith, belief, even when it doesn’t make sense. So that in the end, you can stand firm in all circumstances because of Christ, who strengthens you!
