Tag Archives: Doubt

When you Doubt

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Just because you have faith, it doesn’t mean that you’ve always got it figured out, or that it always makes sense.  Just because you believe, it doesn’t mean that all of life will always make sense, and that everything will always be easy.

Sometimes, you will believe.  Sometimes, you will know that things are right, or that things are going to be ok in the end, or that God is going to work everything out.  You know it.  Really, you do.  You believe.

But, you still have doubts.  You still worry.  You still are afraid.  You believe. But, it’s hard.  Today, in Mark 9: 23 – 25, we see one of my favorite passages that deals with this.  Listen to what it says today:

And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

help-my-unbelief_t3-doubtThis dad came to Jesus and said, please help my son.  Jesus said, if you believe, all things are possible. And dad says, I do, I believe.  But, help my unbelief!  What can we learn from this passage about the times when we believe, but struggle.

First, do what’s right.  This dad was struggling but unbelief, but He went to Jesus anyway.  He knew that Jesus was truth and was help. He didn’t really understand it, or have it figured out, or really know what to do.  But he knew that Jesus was life.  He did the right thing.

So should we.  If you struggle, keep reading.  Keep praying.  Keep worshiping.  Keep doing the things that draw you close to Jesus.  The dad struggled, but he was faithful.  And good things happened.

Second, ask for help.  Ask Jesus to help you.  Ask for strength.  Ask for belief.  Ask for that hope. When the dad, when he knew that belief was needed, he said – help me!   Help my unbelief. Help my doubts.

When you doubt, don’t turn away from Jesus, turn to Jesus.  Don’t run from Him, run to Him.  And when you do that, you will find that He will actually give you the strength and the faith that you need.

Today, we may doubt.  God is there to help us, in these doubts.  He won’t leave us there.  Today, even when we doubt, may we turn to Him!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Doubt

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John the Baptist knew who Jesus was. Scripture tells the story that even while he was in his mother’s womb, he leapt for joy when Mary came to visit, for even then he knew that the Messiah was there.

John was the one appointed by God to go and to prepare the way for Jesus. He was the one that was supposed to make things ready for Jesus’ coming and ministry.

Some of his disciples even became disciples of Jesus.

John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.

John knew Jesus.

So, it’s a little surprising to read what happens in today’s text, Matthew 11:2-5:

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

And yet today, in this text, he doubted. Life had taken a turn. John was now in prison for standing up to Herod and condemning him. And you condemn the king, it normally doesn’t go to good for you. So, he is doubting.

And what do Jesus say – look. Look at the lives I’ve changed. Look what I’ve done. Look what’s happening. I am who I say that I am because I have changed live.

You will doubt. It will happen. That’s ok. Doubt happens. Even John did. But when doubt comes, just like John, look around. Look at the lives that are changed. Look at the difference Jesus makes, in your lives and in the lives of others.

He has changed my life. He has changed the lives of so many others. And, if you let Him, He will change your life in amazing ways today!

Doubt will come. But remember. Remember what He has done for you. Remember how He has shown you grace. Remember how He has changed your life. That change. That experience. That’s God’s working in our lives.

When doubt comes, remember what He’s done. And look at what He’s doing. And hold tight to those things.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The One Thing I Do Know

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What do you truly and totally understand? Well, I guess it depends on what we are talking about, huh? I don’t understand how at this point, my Rebels can lose this many SEC games in a row, but that’s not important in the grand scheme of things.

What is important in the grand scheme is God. Is faith. Is Scripture. Is salvation. These things matter; these things are important.

And we want to be able to understand them. We want to be able to really know what is important.

But, we don’t fully know, do we? We don’t fully understand, do we? There are things about God, faith, salvation, and scripture that we may not fully understand this side of glory.

Today in John 9:24-25, we see a many questions about his healing by Jesus. He is being asked by the religious leaders, what about this? What about this? What about this?

Listen to what the man says:

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

He finally says, I don’t know the answers to the questions you are asking, but one thing I do know. I once was blind and now I see.

I love that answer. There are lots of things about faith I don’t understand. Lots of things that don’t make sense to me. Lots of things in life that I can’t figure out.

But, I do know this. I once was blind. But now I see. I once was lost and now I’m found. I once was wandering away from God and now I’m home.

I can’t understand every deep thing about God. But I do know that He loved me enough to save me.

Just as He loves you that much.

Today, no matter what you don’t know and don’t understand, one thing I do know. God loves you and wants to be in relationship with you.

And that’s the best thing of all!

Help my Unbelief

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Yesterday I reflected a little on worry.  Worry is something that I deal with A LOT myself. I spent most of yesterday worrying and fretting over a bunch of stuff when the Lord reminded me, hey dude, you need to listen to the things that you tell other folks.

I’m the kind of guy that Lord doesn’t always whisper to. Sometimes He has to smack me on the head.

And today, the Lord maybe continuing His smacking on the head, to me, if to no one else. I was reading today in Mark, and I read this passage:

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Worry, to me, is so closely tied to doubt.  I worry when I doubt something will work out ok. I worry when I feel like a situation is out of my control and I doubt that anything can be done about it.

Worry seems to thrive off of doubt. Doubt seems to the oxygen to worry’s fire.  Worry seems to be fed and driven by doubt.

When there is no doubt, through, there would not be as much worry. Without that doubt, worry would become less.

So, what is the opposite of doubt?  Faith.  Faith drives out doubt. Faith drives out worry.

And so, look at this passage today, with a verse that I love. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.  None of us have as much faith as we ought to have. None of us are exactly where we ought to be in our walk.  None of us are perfect.  That’s ok.

Lord we do believe.  Help our unbelief.  Help us have more faith.  More trust.  More confidence in your plan.

Today, we believe.  We have faith. We have trust. Today, may we have MORE faith and trust.

Today, we believe.  Today, may the Lord help our unbelief.

The Whispers

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Who are you?  Who do you feel like you are?  What are your dreams?  Your wishes?  Your hopes?

Who do you see yourself as?  What do you see yourself doing?  Where do you see yourself with your walk with family and friends; with your walk with God.

We want to think of ourselves in good places. With good hopes and dreams and futures.

But perhaps, just perhaps, you have heard the whispers.

You aren’t any good.

You are worthless.

You’ve done too much. God can’t love you. . . . .can’t use you. . . . you are of no worth to Him.

Or anyone.

Just give up. . . . quit. . . . stop trying. . . . what’s it matter. . . . . you can’t do it anyway.

Perhaps today, you’ve heard those whispers in your head.  If so, listen to what Paul tells us in Colossians today:

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

You were once far away from God.  You were his enemy. That’s a big word.

But you were.

And so was I. So were we all. Because we were all dead in our sins. We were all far away from God. We.  Were.  His.  Enemies.

And how did God respond? By giving us His son to reconcile us to Him. To forgive us. To bring us into the throne room of grace. To make us clean.

To change us from being His enemies to being His children.

Today, when you hear the whispers, remember who you are. Remember what’s been done for you. Remember what Jesus has done for you.  You are forgiven.  You are restored.  You are His child and you are loved.

Don’t listen to the whispers.  Listen to voice of God here through His word.  You are redeemed, you are restored, you are made clean and made whole.

Don’t listen to the whispers.  Listen to God.  And know that you are no longer His enemy.  You are His child.

Go out and live like the loved child of God that you are.

What is Not

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One of the things that is always most inspiring, and honestly, intimidating, to me about the saints of scripture is the amazing faith they had.  They had an ability to trust, to see, to hope, that is without a doubt, other-worldly.  Today, look at Abraham.  This is what Paul says in Romans 4

19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Think about that for a second.  How easy would it have been to give for Abraham?  How easy would it have been to say, ok, that’s enough. Check please.  I’m done.  I’m headed back to Ur.

But, he didn’t.  He still had faith. Now, we know if we go back and read his story in Genesis, we’ll see he wasn’t perfect.  He did some dumb things.  He made some bad mistakes.

There were times when struggled and had doubts.

But, we see in the end, he had faith. He trusted. He believed. He trusted.  Even when he didn’t see.  He about the faith to see what is not there. And know that it will be there.  One day.

In our lives, on the roads we walk, there will be times we doubt.  There will be times we struggle. There will be times when we are down cast.

So in those times, hold fast to your faith. Hold fast to what is good and noble and true.  Hold fast to what you believe. The doubts and trials and struggles and darkness will come.

Hold onto what is of God. What is of faith. What matters.

Don’t lose sight of what God is doing. Sometimes faith is the ability to see what is not there.  But know that it will be there.

And remember, that God is bigger than all we face.  God is bigger than our doubts, our fears, our hopes, our dreams.  God is bigger than our vision.  God is bigger than our sight. That’s why we walk by faith, not by sight.

We see with the eyes of faith.  We see not just what is there.  We see what will be there. Hope. Trust. Have faith.

God is at work. Today, and always.  Hold onto Him.

Belief

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As I was reading today, I read one of the texts that has always really spoken to me.  It seems like in scripture, only one thing could stop Jesus from doing what He wanted to do. The unbelief of people. Today, in Matthew’s Gospel, we read this:

But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

That passage has always stood with me for a while when I read it.  He simply did not do many things, because of their unbelief.

In life, we will have times of doubt. That’s the way that it goes. We all doubt. We all struggle. We all have those times, those moments of darkness. Those moments where our foundation is shaken. That’s part of what we all know and experience.

But, we can’t stay in the dark forever.  We can’t stay in doubt forever.  We have to believe the sun will come out, that the rain will stop, that the fire will cease.

In short, we have to believe that God is still God.

Today, do we have faith? Do we have that belief. No matter what we are going through, God is bigger.

If we believe in God, we have to believe that He can do these things.  After all, He’s God!  He’s bigger, greater, and more mighty than all!  He made all this is, both seen and unseen. He’s the creator of all!

And, He wants to do amazing things with us each today.

Today, do we believe in the power of God? Do we believe in His work? Do we believe in what He’s doing?  Even when we can’t seen. Even when we don’t understand.  God is at work.

Have faith. Believe.  Hope.  Trust.  God is at work. Today, an always.

God is Bigger

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One of the things in life that many of us know and experience is fear.  It’s something that as children we all know, the fear of the dark, the unknown, strangers, whatever.  We each have what is sometimes called “childlike fear.”

But, as we grow older we find that while our fears change, fear remains a constant in our lives. We, especially now, have many fears. I’ve seen in the past few years, the church become very afraid. Afraid of what’s happening the world. Of politics.  Of war. Of divisions within the church.  Of divisions within culture.

Of the economy.  Of losing our job.  Of note being able to pay our bills.  Of losing our home.  Of many, many things.

Fear is something we each have tasted recently.

And, perhaps, that’s why I found such comfort in a prayer that I read today in my morning prayers. It’s simply entitled “A Collect for Peace”

God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I love that line – surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of our adversaries. .

Today, we all have something we fear. We all have something we dread.

Perhaps it something at work.  In our family.  In our finances.  In our personal life.  We all have something that robs our peace.

But, today, know this as well.  Whatever it is. God is bigger.  God’s defense is bigger than whatever it is you fear.

Don’t be afraid.  Trust. God is bigger. God is stronger.  God is more mighty.

Do.  Not.  Fear.  God is with you.

Today, trust in His defense.  Trust in His strength.  Trust in His might.

Know His peace, His life, His life. Do not be afraid. Trust.

And find His life.

Lights and Lamps

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Today in the Psalm from the morning, we see one of the more famous verses in Scripture, about Scripture.  It’s 119: 105

105 Thy word is a lantern unto my feet *
and a light unto my paths.

I remember this as a child in VBS at Johnston Chapel UMC. We’d start off every VBS day with the pledge the American Flag, the Christian Flag, and then the pledge to the Bible. This verse was one of the parts of the pledge that I can still remember from my childhood.

And many of us may remember the Amy Grant song “Thy Word” which quoted this verse as part of it.

So, many of us are very familiar with this passage. It’s one of my favorites, but it’s taken on a new meaning for me over the years.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That sounds good, doesn’t it?  It sounds calming and reassuring.

It is. But, there is one catch to it.  Lights and lamps, they don’t always provide the most light.  In fact, if you look at the text, it says it will be light to our feet, and lamp to our path.

It will give us light for the next step.

No necessary the step 10 steps from now.

Sometimes, we just have enough light to know what the next step is. The next move is. The next action is.

We may only know what we are supposed to do today.  We may not know what we are supposed to do tomorrow. All we know is today.

It’s kind of like the manna they gathered in the Old Testament. The were only supposed to gather enough for that day, and trust in God for tomorrow.

That’s hard. We want enough manna for tomorrow. We want enough light to see 10 steps down the road.

We don’t always get it. We get manna for today. We get light for our next step.

And then, as we take that next step, we get light for the next. And the next.  And the next.

We will have all the light we need, all the direction we need. We just have to trust.

We have light for this next step.

What is your next step?  Will you take it? God will give you the light that you need.

How Could They Do That?

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One of the things that is most shocking about some of the passages in the Old Testament is this.  Really, Israelites?  You thought that was a good idea?  Really?  I mean, really?

Take for instance the Old Testament passage from today’s morning reading, Genesis 32: 1-6

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.” 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

Really?  You thought that this was a good idea?  I mean, where do we start with this?

First, when Moses delayed coming, they said, well, who knows where this Moses fellow went off to?

All they had to do was look up at the mountain. WHICH WAS GLOWING.  I REPEAT, WHICH WAS GLOWING.

But they didn’t.  They just said, well, he’s gone and not coming back.

And Arron, said, ok, I’ll make you a calf, sure. And then he said, he’s the god that lead you out of Egypt!

I mean, think about all they had seen with their own eyes. All they had seen God do. All they had seen God change. Save. Deliver. All they had experienced.

And in one moment, they said, nope, Moses is gone and we want golden calf!

How could they do that?

One small problem.

We do the same thing.

Maybe we haven’t seen God bring plagues against the Egyptians or part the Red Sea.  But, we’ve seen Him move. We’ve seen Him do awesome things.  We’ve seen Him change lives, including our own.  We’ve felt Him in our hearts, known Him with our souls.

So, maybe we haven’t seen what they saw. But we’ve seen a lot.

And, while we may not have melted down our jewelry and built a golden calf, we’ve done the same thing.

We’ve all put our hope in something other than God.  Our job.  Our family.  Our status.  Our wealth.  Our reputation.  Our whatever. . . .

In this text, they said the calf had led them, not God.

In our lives, we can say, these other things, they lead us, save us, take care of us.

We do not need to make that same mistake they did.

We need to trust.  Our life, our hope, our safety, our future, they all come from God.  No where else.  From God.

They didn’t always trust God.  How could they do that?

We don’t always trust God.  May we learn from their mistakes.

And today, and always, may we trust God, knowing that He is our life, our hope, our safety.  And, above all, thanks be to God, that in spite of their mistakes, He still loved them, and didn’t give up on them.

In spite of our mistakes, He still loves us. And will not give up on us.

Thanks be to God!