It is normal for every believer to doubt certain things, for we are surrounded on all sides by the forces of evil and darkness. Our strength and drive to move forward is not in doubt but in how we handle and deal with that. We are created in the ‘image and likeness of God’, and firstly, we should not doubt and secondly, we should remain stuck in the mire of that doubt. This is a perpetual battle of the mind and we deal with it in the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit in us.
Why does doubt about the Word and promises of God enter our minds? Adam and Eve were created by God with the ‘Light of Glory’ shining in them. Since they were to represent God on the earth, this glory had specific powers and authority over all created things. The information provided by God about the devil also included details of his presence, ‘in Eden, the garden of God’ (Ezekiel 28:13). They were forbidden to acquire the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ by eating of the one tree in the Garden. The Hebrew word used for knowledge is ‘daath’ which is derived from another word ‘yada’. It means a deep intellectual and experiential understanding beyond factual information and is about moral and spiritual aspects.
This same word ‘yada’ is used when ‘Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore cain’. The sin of Adam and Eve was to gain this experiential and relational knowledge of sin to make it a part of themselves. Man and wife become ‘one flesh’ where their souls are joined together in a common bond. Thus the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ became part of their being and with this their nature developed the nature to do good or ‘yetzer tov’ and a desire to do evil or ‘yetzer hara’. This is what has been passed on from generations into every human being. Thus, a conflict of the two natures goes on continuously in an individual. The good wants to believe what God says but the evil wants to doubt every good thing. Thus, in Adam and Eve, after their sin, the evil nature dominated, leading them into imagining things that were not.
Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve and was a farmer while Abel, his younger brother tended to the flocks. Cain brought ‘an offering of the fruit of the ground’ while Abel brought ‘of the firstborn of his flock and their fat’ (Genesis 4:3-5). We add nothing to God by bringing offerings of any kind to Him. God ‘respected’ Abel’s offering for it was suitable to the principle of life for life, for death is the result of sin. Cain was angry at this and ended up killing his brother, doubting the love of God for him. Doubt creates a cloud in the mind which covers and hides reality. The sinful nature in us hinders our efforts to turn to God by creating doubts.
Doubt comes to mind because of various reasons. First, lack of personal experience of the power of God or His Word in one’s life. The cause of this could be due to no close relationship with Him and the Word. Fellowship with other believers, learning and sharing with them life’s experiences help us in this. The Jewish converts to the faith were cautioned against this, by not forsaking ‘the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some’ (Hebrews 10:25).
The second, is suffering, pain and difficult circumstances causing emotional distress. During such pain it is hard for many to stand firm in faith and doubts creep in.
Third, unbelief or spiritual blindness can be a reason to doubt and one may not believe in the presence of God or the truth of His Word.
Fourth, unbelief in God’s love and faithfulness, especially during times of suffering and loss.
Fifth, different beliefs, more so in those of other faiths and cultures where God is perceived as an angry deity.
Sixth, the media, which projects religion as suited to one’s needs and not as God desires one to live.
Seventh, science and technology, like the theory of evolution, that does not propagate the idea of a Creator.
Eighth, fear of the unknown and death, leading to anxiety about the existence of a higher power that controls everything.
Nineth, desire to control everything around us, thus negating the power and presence of God.
Tenth, lack of visible evidence for no one has seen God and we ‘live by faith and not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Apostle Paul confirms the dominant evil nature in an individual, saying, ‘the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice’ (Romans 7:19). The Apostle lived in the power and absolute guidance of the Holy Spirit, yet he could clearly admit certain doubts about his own way of life and then seek God’s help in overcoming that. Because of all this, it is natural for us to have doubts about every aspect of life, even our faith and relationship with God. It is not the doubt but how we handle that, decides our course of life on the earth.
Right way to deal with our doubts – We have three choices to handle our doubts. First, we can hide and pretend that the doubts do not exist but that can affect our relationship with God and His Word and we may avoid quiet times with Him. Second, surrender to our doubts and turn to other ways to counter these. This will not only break our relationship with the Saviour Lord but also result in eternal damnation. Third, doubt our doubts and ask God to answer our questions. This can be a long and uncomfortable process and continues throughout life.
To handle our doubts, we ask two questions; why am I doubting and how do I deal with it? First is to understand the root cause, for it could be our emotions playing up, especially during suffering. God seems far, far away and we doubt. Doubt could be from fear and questions about various scenarios that keep cropping up repeatedly, in our lives. These doubts are generally without any reason or evidence. Another reason could also be our desire to do the forbidden. Then it is convenient to doubt the presence of God and His eye being on us. Sometimes it could be with a reason, like the truth of the Scripture, when so many, even our close ones, do not believe the truth of the Word. All these are from carnal knowledge of the earth, that the devil exploits, to lead us astray.
The ways to deal with our doubts – Emotional doubts are not true and can be patiently endured, until they settle down. Doubts from fear are irrational and not based on evidence. Fear is blind but not faith and we counter these by thinking about what God has done in the past for us and for others. Trust counters fear and faith in Lord Jesus is the medicine for such fears. Many churches have an ‘open mike’ system at set times during the service to let others share the blessing received by them, to encourage all others. Doubts from sinful desires are countered by the Word of God and a look at the consequences. The choice is to accept difficult truths and cling to the Saviour Lord or reject truth and follow our desires. God is faithful and equips us to handle these, when we run to Him. Doubts with a reason are handled with evidence of the truth through proper investigation about the views of Christian and non-believers.
When doubts keep coming up continuously hitting us relentlessly, it is a spiritual attack to stop you from receiving some blessing from the Lord. Apostle Paul gives us the root and the answer to handle these (Ephesians 5:8; 14; 19-21). We must first recognize that ‘you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world’. The old nature still clings to us and we are transformed daily. We are then advised to be ‘filled with the Spirit’ and in that blessed state speak to one another ‘in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord’. When we join others in worship and praise, we are inadvertently encouraging others, who are facing difficult questions within. In all this we give thanks to God for all things, thus putting our mind at rest about our doubts.
God commanded Abraham to move away from his family and friends to ‘a land that I will show you’ (Genesis 12:1). The destination was not known but there was a great promise from God. Abraham overcame his doubts and moved. The Israelites had seen Moses perform great miracles in Egypt, to make Pharaoh let them move out. God commanded Moses to ask the Israelites about applying the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their houses. The promise from God was, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt’. Even then some of the people would have doubted and suffered the death of their firstborn.
The Israelites left Egypt but the Pharaoh changed his mind and went after them with his army to get them back. They had the Red Sea in front, mountains on both sides and the Egyptian army at the back. Moses cried out to the LORD God for help and was told, ‘Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward’ (Exodus 14:15-16). As per God’s command Moses stretched out his hand with his rod over the sea but nothing happened. As per legend, Nahshon, a leader from the tribe of Judah, entered the sea and continued to move forward till the water reached his head and he was about to drown. Then the sea parted and his faith was honoured by God and all the people could escape to safety. He could overcome his doubts by focussing on the miracles performed in Egypt and move forward.
The Risen Lord appeared in the midst of the disciples and after greeting them with peace, ‘showed them His hands and His side’ (John 20:19-20 & 25-29). He did this to set their doubts at rest. Apostle Thomas was not present at that time and refused to believe in the resurrection till He saw the ‘print of the nails, and put my hand into His side’. After eight days The Saviour lord appeared to them and asked Thomas to ‘reach your finger here, and look at My hands’. We are blessed by the Lord for ‘we have not seen and yet have believed’. We see a chair in a public place and presume that it will be able to bear our weight and sit down upon it. When we step forward in faith, doubts start receding and God steps in to bless our faith and help us move to success. As Apostle Peter, we must remember, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6:68). He alone is the Saviour, who suffered and died for us to free us from the clutches of sin and the devil to help us walk in faith in His power and might. He alone is able, willing and ready to bear the weight of our souls to comfort us.
Why is a believer afflicted with doubts? The twelve disciples had spent three years with Lord Jesus in close company and were witness to all the miracles performed by Him. They had every Word of teaching from Him along with the detailed teaching alone with Him. While the Messiah was teaching them about His being deceived and crucifixion, ‘there was a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest’ (Luke 22:23-24). When our focus is more on self than on God, the mind will always get filled with earthly knowledge and wisdom, rather than the heavenly. Lord Jesus’ entire stay on the earth was with absolute commitment and obedience to God the Father and His mission.
Many people with a carnal mind define His prayer in the Gethsemane Park as an expression of fear. The continuous attacks of the devil on Him were to somehow deter Him from fulfilling the task of redemption of mankind. Up until then, anyone who died never entered the presence of God and the Lord was to bear the sins of all of humanity. This would cause separation from the Father, for a certain duration of time. His prayer in the Gethsemane Park was, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done’ (Luke 22:42). The total emphasis is on the ‘will’ of the Father and not on His own will, for He wanted to avoid separation from the Father. His cry on the cross is to God, whose will He was doing, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:46). Finally, He, fully filled with the love of God, did declare for all those present, both seen and unseen, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit’ (Luke 23:46). Like our Saviour, we also must challenge our doubts upfront with the promise and love of God as per His Word.
Apostle Paul has listed the weapons of warfare that we have received from God (Ephesians 6:13-18). We are to ‘take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand’. Our doubts are from the lies of the devil to make us stumble and fall and we put on ‘the shield of faith’, with which to counter these lies. The tempter came to test the Saviour after His fasting and being with the Father in prayer for forty days and nights (Matthew 4:3-10). All that, He countered by the Word of God, ‘the sword of the Spirit’. In like manner, we prepare ourselves for battle by meditating on the Scripture every day.
We must accept our doubts as a natural thing and bring them before the Lord, seeking His help. Repeatedly, God has been termed as ‘faithful’ to His chosen children by helping them in every situation. He is ready and willing to help, but are we willing to submit to Him for that!
Our doubts first, try to lead us away from our own selves and then from God also. Only the one who is so filled with his own ego and importance does not doubt, for he sees everything below him. A wise man first thinks things through and then doubts his own understanding and seeks God’s guidance to the real truth. We are blessed with the indwelling Holy Spirit to walk in His guidance in faith!
