Matthew 21:21-22 says:
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
How many of you have tested God and said to a ‘mountain’ “Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea.” All of you, right? Be honest. Did your ‘mountain’ move? No. And you said to God, “But I did everything Lord. I believed You would move that mountain and You didn’t do it.” From this springs doubts regarding the very existence of God. Everyone has doubts from time to time. The flesh is weak. We will always have some doubts as long as we have these bodies of flesh.
Doubt:
1. To be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.
2. To be uncertain about something; be undecided in opinion or belief.
3. A feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.
So we see that doubt means uncertainty, it does not mean unbelief. There is a vast difference between having doubts about something that you do believe, and unbelief. So we see that doubt means uncertainty, it does not mean unbelief. An unbeliever never doubts, he doesn't believe so why should he have doubts? He never doubts about something he doesn't believe anyway.
Do you fret over doubts as to whether Allah is really a God? No, you don’t harbor doubts about Allah because you don’t believe in Allah. But you do believe in Jehovah; you only harbor doubts over the One you believe in.
When we pray and ask God to do something and it then comes to pass, we say, “WOW!” Why do we say ‘wow?’ Because we had doubts.
To say that you never have doubts is like saying that you never sin. Some individuals may see doubt as the opposite of faith, but doubt is not the opposite of faith, unbelief is the opposite of faith. Doubt brings into question something in which we do believe. The term “to doubt” can also mean “to question.”
In Luke 3:19-20, we read that John the Baptist was shut up in prison:
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Later, in Luke 7:19-22 we read that while John the Baptist was shut up in prison he sent some of his disciples asking:
19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Did John the Baptist question whether Jesus was the Messiah? Indeed he was in imminent danger, and he had nagging doubts.
Next we see in Matthew 14:27-31 where Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and was afraid:
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Did Peter doubt that Jesus would save him from sinking into the water? He took his eyes off Jesus and saw the circumstances and he was afraid, because he had doubts. Jesus said that Peter doubted.
How did "Doubting Thomas" come to be remembered by that expression? John 20:24-29 says:
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Thomas was one of the apostles! Surely he would not have any doubts? Ah…but we see that he did.
If we can’t physically see something then we have doubts about it. Nevertheless, we can’t see sub-atomic particles but we believe they are real because physicists simply say they exist, we don’t question this science. Why? Because if we find out that they really don’t exist…so what? But upon Jesus hinges our eternal life, so we worry about whether Jesus is real. A Christian should never worry, it shows a weak faith, but we do sometimes worry. Lord, please help us in our faith. Help us to keep our eyes off the circumstances and upon You. Amen
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