Doubt

Is all doubt bad?  No.  Sometimes doubt can cause you to seek answers to questions you have that you don’t understand or things that you have heard that you are not sure of.  Doubt can cause us to seek out truth and can be very beneficial.  Doubt can also be very harmful if left unchecked and it becomes a part of our life and a hindrance in our way of thinking.  Probably most every one of us has doubts sometimes even if we are walking with the Lord.  If none of us ever doubted there would be many more things accomplished in the spiritual realm.

Think about the many things you have heard over the years that were possibilities but you responded with, “I doubt it.”  You could have just as easily said, “yea, that will happen,” but you didn’t.  It is strange how the whole atmosphere changes when a person of faith speaks to a crowd than when a doubter speaks.

This reminds me of the spies that were sent out to check out the Promised Land, Cana.  Moses sent these men out and they came back with a good report as far as the land was concerned.  They said it was a land flowing with milk and honey and they showed those there that the fruit was good.  This was the positive part of the report, if it would have ended there, everyone would have been happy, because God said that He would give them the land.  But there was a problem; ten of these men lost their perspective when they got their eyes on the people and off the Word of God.  The Word says, “if God is for us who can be against us,” in Romans 8:32.  

Caleb spoke up and says in Numbers 13:30, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”  But then the ten doubters, because of fear and doubt, said in Numbers 13:33, “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”  This caused many of the people to doubt because of their bad report about the land and the people.

When they talked with faith and encouragement about the land I’m sure everyone was encouraged, but when fear and doubt were expressed it changed the whole atmosphere, so to speak, and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night.  In this situation doubt caused a very negative response.

Talking about doubt Peter usually comes to my mind, how he got out of the boat when Jesus told him to come to Him and he started walking on the water to Jesus.  The first few steps must have been very exciting to him and his faith level was very high, after all he was the first man other than Jesus that had ever walked on water.  Then, like most of us at times, got his eyes off Jesus and put them on the storm causing fear and doubt to rush in and he began to sink.  Then his whole perspective changed and he thought he was going to drown so he cried out to Jesus to save him.  In Matthew 14:31 it says, “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

You can see that doubt can cause very negative responses, but what about doubting Thomas?  Thomas had a different kind of doubt; he was seeking truth, that is one doubt that isn’t bad.  Many people before they came to know Jesus on a personal basis doubted if He really existed or not.  But for many that turned out to be a good thing.  They didn’t give up; they sought out the truth and found that it was true.  The Word says, “if you know the truth, the truth will set you free.”  Many people that doubted have been set free but if they would have let that doubt control their lives, they may have never been set free.  

Thomas walked with Jesus, heard His teachings, saw His miracles, but seeing Him crucified, die and buried brought doubt to his mind when he heard that Jesus was alive.  He wanted to believe but he got his eyes on the circumstances, even in this Jesus wasn’t hard on Thomas.  Jesus could have rebuked him harshly but Jesus said this to Thomas in John 20:27, “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’”  Thomas answered Him, “my Lord and my God.”  Jesus said, “if you seek me with all your heart you will find me.”  I believe Thomas wanted it to be true that Jesus was alive so he stayed around to find out the truth and because he did he was set free, praise the Lord!

What about you, are you allowing fear and doubt to keep you from knowing the truth about Jesus?  This goes for you also, if you seek Jesus with all your heart you will find Him then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  Something to meditate on, I hope you will.  God bless you and yours and have a great day!!