Dave’s Monday Blast – July 17, 2023

Doubt! Every believer struggles with this issue. Is it wrong for a Christian to have doubts about God? Doubting His love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, promises, power, authority, relevance, on and on and on. I believe that the author of Hebrews was addressing certain aspects of this question in Hebrews 12:1 with this comment...laying aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…. What is that sin that so easily entangles, that is part of the encumbrance, we are to lay aside? Within the context of the passage, it is clear that the sin is a lack of faith; expressing doubt or a lack of confidence in the one in whom we are to place our trust, namely Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (v. 2).

I want to be clear that wrestling with spiritual doubt has been a common reality for God’s people since the serpent set the table with his temptation in the garden (Genesis 3). The Bible is filled with real, honest, and sometimes very raw examples of God’s people experiencing spiritual doubt. Take the time to consider: Sarah, Moses, Job, David, Peter, Martha, or Thomas to name a few. Our loving Heavenly Father does not view our spiritual doubt as sin, but rather, as an opportunity to grow our faith, build our character to look more like Him, and work out his perfect will for our lives (James 1:2 – 4). Doubt does not have to turn into sin, but it is a very small step that is easy to make.

Christian Ministries International comments: “The key to overcoming spiritual doubt is to humble ourselves before the Lord, trust in the promises of His Word, and wait on Him with the hopeful expectation of ultimate deliverance (1 Peter 5:6 – 7; Proverbs 3: 5 -6; Isaiah 40:27 – 31).” As believers we can look forward to the day when all of our doubts will be forever wiped away in the eternal presence and peace of God (Revelation 21:3 – 5).

Next week I want to take a few moments to unpack the Biblical accounts referenced above as a simple way of reminding ourselves of God’s faithfulness.