The Shadow of Doubt
Be merciful to those who doubt. Jude 22
He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Luke 24:38
A dear young friend of mine shared with me a moment in her life that was terrible. It was frightening. She felt an emotion she never wants to revisit. My heart broke for her a bit, not just because of what had happened but because of what will happen. She most likely will experience that same emotion. This morning I read a passage from a book by an extremely well respected pastor. He too expressed concern about his feelings. He and my sweet friend labeled them differently. She called hers anger/hatred. He called his fear but they all find their life’s breath in the same base emotion, doubt.
My sweet friend desperately wants a certain miracle. I am confident that she will receive it, in God’s time. She is too, most days. The pastor has the weighty privilege of preaching and writing to an enormous audience. It is a privilege, his ministry, and he sees at such, most days.
“The devil is in the doubt” is a cliché I have heard for as long as I can remember. As a child it made no sense to me. As an adult it makes way too much sense! The story of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection are believable only by faith. Those of us with faith share that story through the eyes and words of our belief. Of course it happened the way it says it did. We know this based on Old Testament prophecy being realized. We know it by reading the Word and by circumstances in our own lives that are things that only God can do. Taken from the viewpoint of an atheist or skeptic it is fairly easy to see why they have trouble with the story. It is impossible!
So most days those of us who believe go along content in our faith. When we have problems, we leave them with our Father. We are victorious and we give Him the glory and praise His name. Then the day comes when we are just bold faced disappointed, heartsick, fearful and we wonder, is it true? Some of our circumstances confuse us. If God is love then why am I so miserable? Why did that one over there who never even speaks to God get the blessing and I did not? (If you’re expecting an answer to that stop reading, I don’t have one.) It seems that perhaps all of this miraculous stuff we believe might not be as substantial as we thought. Then we get angry or hateful. Then we get hurt and say things we regret to God who we know never forgets. Fortunately we also know He is eminently forgiving.
For my young friend, her hurt brought out anger and hateful feelings. She focused on the hate. The real demon was the doubt. She so dearly wants God’s help and when it looked as if He were mocking her desire she found that impossible to take. If God is love, as she believes, then her situation makes no sense. The devil jumped all over that doubt. Thanks be to our precious Lord she was wise enough to share her feelings and I was blessed to able to walk her through.
For the pastor, his fear is recurring. He wonders on occasion, as he writes and prepares to preach, if he is in the company of snake oils salesmen. What if the God he preaches, the Gospel he preaches, isn’t all it appears to be? He knows better. That God and Gospel have been his sure foundation for years.
The truth is that God loves my sweet friend much more than I do. The truth is that the Truth is real. Jesus died, rose from the grave and is coming back for us. Both my sweetie and the pastor know that Truth. They both live in light of it. They believe but then they doubt. Sound familiar? It does to me. I go there far too often. I took great comfort from the fact that a man I respect and from whom I have learned so much, has his doubts. I was grateful to have experiences to share to bolster my young friend. If the idea that they believe but doubted sounds really familiar to you it’s probably because you read it somewhere. Check the last few lines of the gospel of Matthew. The shadow of doubt is dark and cold but it isn’t lonely. Many, many, I dare to say most, Christians have stood in that shadow. The Light that dispels it is unique. His name is Jesus and he and his story are very real.
He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Luke 24:38
A dear young friend of mine shared with me a moment in her life that was terrible. It was frightening. She felt an emotion she never wants to revisit. My heart broke for her a bit, not just because of what had happened but because of what will happen. She most likely will experience that same emotion. This morning I read a passage from a book by an extremely well respected pastor. He too expressed concern about his feelings. He and my sweet friend labeled them differently. She called hers anger/hatred. He called his fear but they all find their life’s breath in the same base emotion, doubt.
My sweet friend desperately wants a certain miracle. I am confident that she will receive it, in God’s time. She is too, most days. The pastor has the weighty privilege of preaching and writing to an enormous audience. It is a privilege, his ministry, and he sees at such, most days.
“The devil is in the doubt” is a cliché I have heard for as long as I can remember. As a child it made no sense to me. As an adult it makes way too much sense! The story of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection are believable only by faith. Those of us with faith share that story through the eyes and words of our belief. Of course it happened the way it says it did. We know this based on Old Testament prophecy being realized. We know it by reading the Word and by circumstances in our own lives that are things that only God can do. Taken from the viewpoint of an atheist or skeptic it is fairly easy to see why they have trouble with the story. It is impossible!
So most days those of us who believe go along content in our faith. When we have problems, we leave them with our Father. We are victorious and we give Him the glory and praise His name. Then the day comes when we are just bold faced disappointed, heartsick, fearful and we wonder, is it true? Some of our circumstances confuse us. If God is love then why am I so miserable? Why did that one over there who never even speaks to God get the blessing and I did not? (If you’re expecting an answer to that stop reading, I don’t have one.) It seems that perhaps all of this miraculous stuff we believe might not be as substantial as we thought. Then we get angry or hateful. Then we get hurt and say things we regret to God who we know never forgets. Fortunately we also know He is eminently forgiving.
For my young friend, her hurt brought out anger and hateful feelings. She focused on the hate. The real demon was the doubt. She so dearly wants God’s help and when it looked as if He were mocking her desire she found that impossible to take. If God is love, as she believes, then her situation makes no sense. The devil jumped all over that doubt. Thanks be to our precious Lord she was wise enough to share her feelings and I was blessed to able to walk her through.
For the pastor, his fear is recurring. He wonders on occasion, as he writes and prepares to preach, if he is in the company of snake oils salesmen. What if the God he preaches, the Gospel he preaches, isn’t all it appears to be? He knows better. That God and Gospel have been his sure foundation for years.
The truth is that God loves my sweet friend much more than I do. The truth is that the Truth is real. Jesus died, rose from the grave and is coming back for us. Both my sweetie and the pastor know that Truth. They both live in light of it. They believe but then they doubt. Sound familiar? It does to me. I go there far too often. I took great comfort from the fact that a man I respect and from whom I have learned so much, has his doubts. I was grateful to have experiences to share to bolster my young friend. If the idea that they believe but doubted sounds really familiar to you it’s probably because you read it somewhere. Check the last few lines of the gospel of Matthew. The shadow of doubt is dark and cold but it isn’t lonely. Many, many, I dare to say most, Christians have stood in that shadow. The Light that dispels it is unique. His name is Jesus and he and his story are very real.
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