Let's Talk About Doubt

Let’s talk about doubt. We all have it. We all use it. Even in the most certain areas, doubt is always present. I can have a trail cam picture of a certain buck that shows up at a certain time of the day, and set up there on the following day, and still have doubt the buck will show up. I can catch fish for five straight days off one point, and can show up the next day, and doubt will still rear its head to play with my head about the possibility of a sixth straight day. Pure doubt itself is agnostic. It only moves to belief or unbelief after more knowledge. For instance, I may want to buy a new bow and want the fastest one on the market. Right now, I have doubts as to which one that is. And not only that, but I also really don’t care what brand it is. I am agnostic. I have one parameter. It must be the fastest. When I find out (gain more knowledge) I move from doubt to belief in one and unbelief in another. Doubt is defined as hesitation or uncertainty between two positions. It is a fixed position between two or more points. Biblical doubt is confusing sometimes. Sometimes the original text refers to unbelief and not pure doubt. Sometimes, there is an honest question about it, as to when Jesus asked Peter, “Why did you doubt?” Here’s what I want you to know. Don’t let doubt cause you to doubt. Let me write that again. Don’t let doubt cause you to doubt. Let me illustrate. In the scriptures, there was a paralyzed man who sat at the pool of Bethesda. He had sat there for 38 years waiting to be put into the pool when the waters were stirred, thinking he would be healed. And for 38 years he wasn’t the first one in. And then Jesus healed him. But he had 38 years of minding-filling belief about his physical state. Now he is healed but must lay down each night for sleep. I wonder how long – for how many months or years, he opened his eyes in the morning and thought “I wonder, can I still walk? I wonder, is the miracle still effective? I wonder, is the healing still working? I wonder, are Jesus’ words still good?” Doubt. Now some would criticize his doubt, but his doubt was legitimate. It came from a mindset that had been established for 38 years! It would take a while to change this.

But if we looked at his heart. When HE looked deep in his heart. He knew. He believed. And he got up another day, until his life was over.

What about you. Have you let the devil or others, or even yourself, tell you your doubt has hindered God’s desire and ability to bring that miracle into your life? Here’s how you can know. Look at your heart. Listen to your heart. When it comes to Jesus, and your belief in him and his goodness and his ability…. What does your heart say?

Don’t listen to your mind. The Apostle Paul said, “Take every thought captive.” Why? Because he knew that some of us have decades of a faulty mindset and it may take years for our mind to match our heart. But until then, keep chasing away those thoughts, and one day you’ll just get up without every even remembering the days you couldn’t walk. God is still the same. Don’t let doubt cause you to doubt.