FACING DOUBT WITH FAITH

MANY OF us today struggle with doubt, which can keep us from trusting God. The truth is, we all deal with doubt, and that's normal, but God doesn't want us to stay there. He wants us to confront our doubts with faith. With God's help, we can overcome some of the biggest kinds of doubt that can keep us from living the life that God wants us to live.

So let's look at some of the doubts that God wants us to overcome:

1 Difficult circumstances cause doubt, but my prayers release God's power into my life. Facing difficult circumstances can make us doubt God. We think, 'God, where are You?' But even though God may not have caused those difficult circumstances in your life, He wants to use them to draw you closer to Him through prayer. Prayer is God's power pipeline.

2 Intellectual arguments cause doubt, but my prayers remind me of God's presence. Sometimes we hear intellectual arguments that are against Jesus and Christianity. Whether it comes from a friend or a teacher, it can plant the seed of doubt in our minds and make us question our faith. Real faith is not created through intellectual arguments; real faith is developed when we experience Jesus in a real way.

3 Imperfect Christians cause doubt, but my prayers enable me to look past them to God's Son. I know a lot of people who let their faith be shaken when someone who is a Christian, or even the Church, has let them down. The reality is people make mistakes; they are imperfect, but Jesus is perfect. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith ... ." Hebrews 12:2 NIV.

4 Times of spiritual dryness cause doubt, but my prayers allow me to hear God's voice. All of us may go through a time of spiritual dryness, a time where we don't feel God's presence, we don't hear His voice, and we feel abandoned and begin to doubt God. But the truth is, God never abandons you. Jesus, God's own Son, when He was being crucified on the cross, cried out, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46 NIV. We all go through times of dryness, but your feet need to be firmly planted in a life of prayer so that when God does speak, you can hear Him.

5 Recurring sins in my life cause doubt, but my prayers reveal God's grace to me. When there is a recurring sin in your life and you are constantly fighting a losing battle, this can cause doubt to arise. The apostle Paul, in a letter he wrote to the church in Rome, said, "I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." Romans 7:19 NLT. God wants you to continue to fight against those sins and win through prayer. But the struggle does not end. The more you live for God, the harder the struggle. While you receive God's power to help you overcome some of those recurring sins that you are fighting, God also gives you His grace to take you through them.

Doubt is something that can really shake your faith. Even though you don't have it all figured out, you know that Jesus is real and you need Him in your life. You don't have to have perfect faith to receive God's grace. You just have to have faith to pray and ask Jesus for help. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain ... ." Matthew 17:20 NLT.

n Dwight Fletcher is pastor of Transformed Life Church. Send feedback to familyandreligion@gleanerjm.com.