Our faith can be shaken when we go through difficult times.  All of us have been there, and if you have not yet been there, trust me, at some point, you will.  When things that are challenging come, it is easy for us to doubt God, to doubt His presence, to doubt His purpose.  We can feel like things aren’t as they should be, that God is not there, that things are wrong.

And we can think, perhaps we heard wrong.  Perhaps we really didn’t hear God.  Perhaps we didn’t follow as we should have.  Difficult times can really make us doubt.  That happens to all of us.  It even happened to John the Baptist.  Listen to what happens in Luke 7: 18-20:

18The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples 19 and sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 20When the men had come to him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”‘

John was in prison because of Herod, and would soon be executed.  It would be very easy to be discouraged and give up.  It would be very easy to doubt.  Remember in scripture, who was the first person to recognize Jesus?  It was John.  When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, while Jesus and John were both in the womb, John lept when they arrived.  When John baptized Jesus, John said that he was unworthy to do such a thing.

John knew who Jesus was.  He did.  He knew who Jesus was. Yet now, locked in prison, he doubted.

That doubt did not erase his faithfulness.  That doubt did not mean that he was not a follower.  That doubt did not believe that he denied Jesus.  It meant he was human.

We will all doubt sometime.  That doubt doesn’t mean that we have failed or that we are unfaithful.  If you keep reading in this passage, you will see Jesus commend John for all that he had done.

Jesus understands our weakness. He understands our struggles.  He understands even our doubts.  And He loves in the midst of them.

Today, if you are doubting, hold fast to Jesus, even if you struggle to believe.  Hold fast to Jesus even in the midst of the struggles.  Hold fast to Jesus, even when you feel weak.  Because He is strong.  Our doubts, when they come, do not invalidate the goodness and power of God.

He loves you, even in your doubts.  Today, hold fast to Jesus.  Because He is holding fast to you.

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