"Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" -Psalm 100:3–4
Doubt is a steady ebb and flow that comes naturally to us, as naturally as breathing, and so God is not shocked when we are confronted by those thoughts...but He is with us in them. His gentle heart is with us, He weeps with us. Whether it be doubting His goodness, presence, or existence, all doubts, low-hanging fruit they are, have one characteristic in common:
Doubts are the whispers in your head telling you the Truth is a lie, and a lie is the truth. It is the ultimate shaking of your entire world, trying to uproot everything you believe; it is the ultimate reversal of how you perceived the world to function.
Doubt, when we latch onto it, or rather, it latches onto us, tries feverishly to shake up our beliefs...but they also try to get us to stand firm in a new sort of truth. Your own truth. Whenever we give any room for doubt in our lives, it will always lead to confidence in something else, like in ourselves or in our ability to discern fact from fiction.
I'm doubting that God hears me pray, so He must not be listening.
Where did the sudden confidence come from? Our feelings, rooted in doubt.
So the ultimate question is- what is truth (to steal Pontius Pilate's question) and how can we be confident in that?
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." - 2 Peter 3:18
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." - John 16:13
Are you tracking? Peter closed his letter with the command to grow in "knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". So maybe, the proper response to doubt isn't necessarily faith (though that will come), but knowledge. And knowledge is not withheld, but freely given through the Spirit, who leads us into all the truth. It is by faith, granted by His Spirit, that we grow in knowing. We cannot grow by feeling.
I do not mean knowledge in a legal sense like you can recite all the right verses and have Leviticus memorized, I mean knowing who God is, and who you are to Him. The difference between feelings and knowledge is that knowledge has Truth to back it up.
But, how can this possibly help at your lowest point, when emotions seem much higher than knowledge? When you don't care what's true, because you just know you feel alone? We can say we believe God will work things out, that He is an ever-present help, but that does little to help us when we are in despair and loneliness.
The only possible thing we can do at that very moment is to pray. Because there is no defeating doubt without the Spirit of Truth. We cannot win against lies. This suggestion isn't as simple as it sounds- Prayer is the hardest thing to do in this situation because you don't even know if God hears you, sees you, cares about you, or even exists. How do we even pray like that? Without feeling like a fraud or a failure?
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." - Colossians 4:2
Being watchful in prayer with thanksgiving is being attentive to how God is moving and working to answer us, but giving thanks in the process. It is trusting who God is enough to stop fighting and be watchful.
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." -Colossians 3:1–4
Doubt sets your eyes downward, but if you would only look up! No matter your feelings, you are hidden with Christ in God. There is not an inch of you not held by Him, not a fiber unknown. When you are in Christ, you are in Christ.
So, for the doubter, know that you are hidden in the heart of the Creator of heaven and earth, the dwelling place of the Spirit of Truth, and you are protected and safe in this place. No lie can exist within His heart, and so no lie can touch you.
Коментарі