Can Christians Doubt?
BY JOHN D. JESS
Mark 4:36-41 I S IT POSSIBLE for a Christian to doubt? And if a person doubts, does it mean that he is not really a Christian?
I know that a doubting Christian appears to be a contradiction in terms, for the Bible says, "By faith we are saved." How can one doubt if he has faith?
Yet, it's a fact that Christians do, at times, doubt. Yes, even their salvation. For you see, we have an enemy who specializes in trying to get God's people to doubt, and not uncommonly he accomplishes his mission.
Thomas, a faithful follower of, and believer in, Jesus doubted that He had risen from the dead. And remember what Jesus once said to His disciples, "Oh, you of little faith." Where there's "little" faith, there's some doubt!
Chapter 4 of Mark tells of the disciples being in a storm on the sea of Galilee. And even though Jesus was in the boat with them, they were afraid. In other words, they doubted Jesus' power to save them. "Master, don't you care if we perish?" they cried. Here was a bunch of doubting Christians!
Now, we're not talking about Christians doubting the existence of God, or the saving power of Christ, or the Bible as the word of God. But Christians often doubt that God hears their prayers, doubt His loving care, and His ability to keep them saved after they believe. Satan has led many Christians to believe that they are saved by faith, but are kept saved by their own works!
But do doubts alter the reality that God always watches over us? Never!
As a boy, I sometimes doubted that my parents loved me, especially when they punished me, or wouldn't buy me something I wanted badly. Now, I know that they did these things because they loved me!
Why do Christians sometimes doubt God's love, or His desire for the very best for us? Because Satan blinds our eyes to the ultimate good. Remember, he's the same rogue who put doubts in the minds of Adam and Eve, and Thomas, and Peter.
Folks, Satan gains his greatest victories when he can get Christians to get their eyes on this world system and off of the love and promises of God! He loves it when he can get God's people all upset about world conditions, get us to sink into despair at what we see on our TV screens and read in our newspapers.
God wants us to look beyond all this stuff and think about our glorious futurethe day when He will scrub all this scum from the face of the earth, and all things will become new!
If we'll serve Him with all our strength today and thank Him for the glorious tomorrow that He promises His children, we'll not have trouble with doubts!
It's amazing how much good Bible-centered theology there is in some of the solid old hymns we've sung for decades. One such hymn that comes to my mind is John Sammis' "Trust and Obey". Remember this stanza?
Not a doubt nor a fear,
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Did you get that? Next time youíre tempted to doubt God, sing a verse and the chorus of this grand old hymn! o
John D. Jess is the regular speaker of Family Life Radio, P.O. Box 35300, Tucson, AZ 85740.