Two Reminders for Overcoming Your Season of Doubt
Are you currently in a season of doubt? I think every Christian has gone through a time when they doubted God. The battle between spirit and flesh is constant, and, at times, the challenge to continue believing in things not yet seen can get the best of us.
Whatever you are doubting in your Christian walk right now, you are not alone. Here are two encouraging reminders to help you overcome your season of doubt!
1. We Don’t Know More Than God
When our situation looks sticky, and our prayers go unanswered (or answered differently than we expected), it can lead us to doubt…
Doubt if God knows what He’s doing.
Doubt if God is still listening.
Doubt if God wants the best for us.
Doubt if God is who He says He is.
It can be easy to begin thinking we know better than God. After all, isn’t that what we’re essentially saying when we pray for something, don’t receive the answer we want, and then doubt that God knows what He’s doing?
The truth is that only God knows what’s best. He’s the only one who can see the whole picture and every possible outcome. He’s the only one who knows us so intimately that He understands precisely how a situation will affect us in the short and long term. He is the all-knowing, almighty God, full of wisdom and goodness. And He wants the best for His children.
When His best doesn’t look like your best, will you still trust He knows better and is working all things for your good?
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
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2. Don’t Forget to Ask God for Help
While most believers will experience doubt in their Christian walk, there’s an unfortunate side effect that can accompany it. If left unchecked, our doubting will often push us away from God. We may feel alone in our doubt, and the last person we think about going to for comfort is the one we’re doubting, especially if that one is God.
We may feel angry at God in our doubt. Or we may feel ashamed of our doubt. We may think God will be disappointed in us. All these emotions can cause us to pull away from the Lord and try to solve our problems in our own strength.
But the truth is that God is exactly who we should go to about our doubt! In Mark 9, we see a beautiful example of someone who went to Jesus with their doubt instead of pulling away.
Mark 9:21-25 “Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Here, a father asks Jesus to cast out a demon from his son. His phrasing of “if you can” implies some doubt. Jesus calls this out, but not to shame or guilt the man. He calls it out to show Him the better alternative: belief. After hearing this, instead of walking away from Jesus because he doesn’t fully believe, the man admits his doubt and asks Jesus to help him overcome it. And what does Jesus do? He casts out the demon and heals the man’s son.
That is the character of the God we serve. He loves us so much that He will always call out the sin in our hearts. But it isn’t to condemn or leave us ashamed. It is to give us a way through Him to overcome that sin. He always gives hope to a situation.
So, while you may feel angry, ashamed, or a number of other emotions in your doubt at the moment, God is there and ready to embrace you as his child and help you overcome your unbelief. Take your doubt to God today and ask Him for help.