Doubt and Faith, the Disease and Its Cure part 1
The enemy will use any weapon in his arsenal to try and weaken the believer so that the believer either becomes ineffective and lukewarm or becomes more a hindrance than a help. We allow this special attack of doubt and despair to occur by our sin. I have noticed in my own experiences that Satan will pierce the skin with well aimed sniper fire of doubt following a constant barrage of temptation and sin.
“Where is your faith now? You must not love the Lord, He doesn’t love you. You’re only a disappointment. Did you just call out to Him? He cant hear you, He doesn’t listen to sinners…”
Indeed the attack is great and facilitated by the sabotage of our flesh. We sin because we are a broken people, freed from the curse of the law, but still under the effects of the curse of creation. Even Paul continued to feel the effects of enemy fire (Romans 7:14-20).
We will discuss the nature of doubt, situations in which it occurs, and the cure.
Doubt
Def: To be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe. To distrust. To fear; be apprehensive about.
doubt. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 17, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/doubt.
My definition: Doubt: “The lack of faith and failure to believe in an all-powerful God from whom all blessings flow.”
Obviously doubt in the Lord is simply absurd. If we believe that the Word is inerrant, then we believe that He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present and He loves us enough to send His only begotten son to die for us while we were yet sinners (John 3:16, Romans 5:8).
Lets look at the Bible…
Doubt is overcome by faith.
Genesis 15:1-6
Abram is presented with the promise of a blessing, descendants numbering more than the stars in the sky. Yet Abram is old and his wife barren, he has no heir. His belief in the Lord to fulfill His promises was “reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
The Lord is with us.
Judges 6:11-16
Gideon is the runt of the runt clan in Israel. He is on his knees grinding some wheat rations so that the Midianites, the people occupying and at war with Israel, couldn’t get it. The Lord approaches him and calls him “valiant warrior” (v. 12). Gideon proceeds to question the Lord, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about…” (v. 13). The Lord tells him to go fight and that “I will be with you” (v. 16).
In both of these situations (let alone the Israelite nation as a whole whom literally saw the power of the Lord lead them out of Egypt, through the waters, while providing food and water in the desert), The Lord gives a command or a promise of blessings that seem, to the men that should receive, impossible given the circumstances. One man is tiny and insignificant in a nation occupied by an enemy army, the other an old sheep herder with no heir and a barren wife. Yet in both situations the Lord takes away the barriers and promises blessings.
God is in control of EVERYTHING.
Luke 8:22-25
Even the wind and the waves answer to Him. We freak out at the slightest bit of trouble and claim to be “perishing.” Let us at least do what the disciples did and go to the One whom has control, the Lord. With all thanksgiving and supplication, let us make our prayers known to God (Philippians 4:4-9).
Doubt causes us to lose stability in the Lord.
2 Peter 3:17, James 1:6-8
Without faith we are double-minded and hypocrites, “driven and tossed by the wind” as the waves of the sea. We lose our steadfastness. We give ground to Satan and give him a foothold in our souls.
How can we be sure? The cure: Fruits of Faith
Philippians 2:12-13 says to work out our salvation with fear in trembling. We are saved by grace through faith, not of our own works, so that no man can boast (Eph 2:8-9). Therefore our works are to prove, or show our faith.
The tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 12:33-35
Good produces good; evil, evil. How can an evil man speak what is good for our speech reveals what is in our hearts. Therefore is we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit as Christians, we produce fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Do our actions and our fruit reflect the Holy Spirit inside us, or are we quenching it? Remember that the Lord works in us “both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2: 13) We can not do it, it must be from the Lord. As Paul says “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” (Romans 7:18).
Faith is the antidote of doubt.
Hebrews 11:1, Romans 5:3-5
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and hope doesn’t disappoint because the love of God has been poured out onto our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Exult in trials for the Lord uses them to build faith. And faith in the Lord produces fruit, profit, proven character, spiritual maturity. This brings about hope. You doubt? Rejoice and have faith in the Lord for He is in control and directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9). “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4).
Strive for the fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23
Pray earnestly for these things, for you know as a sinner, saved by grace, that we are inadequate. Even praying seems empty and barren. This is a lie from the enemy. Our only cure is the Lord. Ask Him to fill you with His spirit.
So when the enemy comes to tell you lies, you can point to tangible proof that you are indeed a child of the Lord, freed from the curse of the law by the death of Jesus (Romans 6:6-11). Point to the Spirit, point to His promises, point to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.
This then is the chief end of man: to produce fruit to glorify God. Let us endure, fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ. Be encouraged that the Lord does not forsake His children. You were saved, you have been saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved.
