How do you deal with doubt?

Jesus shared an introductory message about God’s will for mankind, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6). In the chapters that follow, we get a glimpse of people struggling to connect His words to His ability.

There are those that believe, that with Jesus, “all things are possible” (Mark 9:23); and there are those who doubt. In many ways, this is symbolic of our own journey – times of great faith followed by times of doubt. Elijah experienced something similar in 1 Kings 19 where he runs from Jezebel’s murderous threats. But this was her response to God’s mighty display of power on Mt. Carmel by Elijah! What he experienced, and what some of the people we read in the New Testament experienced, is quite common for us, too.

Matthew records that a man with leprosy confidently asked for healing, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” After him, a Roman Centurion confidently asked for his servant to be healed. Jesus responded in Matthew 8:10, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…” Those are stories that many of us wish defined our normal behavior concerning God’s ability to answer our prayers, but many of us don’t demonstrate as much confidence as those men did.

In Luke 7:19, some of John the Baptizer’s followers were sent by John to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” It would seem that even John had doubts about this man’s identity. When we consider John's background, it would seem nearly impossible for him to doubt. After all, his mother and Jesus’ mother both conceived miraculously, both were related, and it would seem that they would have talked about this at family reunions or at the annual sacrifices they traveled to Jerusalem for. It was even John who announced, “Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Regardless of those details, John had his followers ask Jesus if He really was the Messiah. But remember where John was asking from – prison.

Our moments of doubt often come when it appears God’s plan didn’t work. Or when God must not be listening. Or that it seems He doesn’t care about our problems. John remained in prison until his execution.

What’s the lesson? Perhaps, during these trials of disease, prison, oppression, even death that plagued Jesus’ followers, they struggled with God’s timing in dealing with their problems. We do, too! Later we hear “the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again… Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (Revelations 2:8, 10)

Doubt doesn’t mean we’re evil; it means we’re human. The real question is what do we do in response to our doubts? Reject Him? Or simply let Him lead us wherever that might lead us? Trusting in God is what this is all about. We have to feed our faith as much as possible, and when the seasons of doubt arise, we lean on people who remind us to stay faithful even through our doubts.