Doubt and Faith

I have a confession to make: I doubt at times in Jesus. My faith is weak at moments and feel very insecure in my relationship with God. But hey, I'm not alone. Moses certainly doubted that God could use him to lead His people out of Egypt. Elijah doubted that God would really protect him from evil Jezebel. Gideon did not know whether God would live up to his promise. John the Baptist questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah, and lets not forget about doubting-Thomas, not believing the reports of Jesus' resurrection. 

Entangled with my doubt is a foundation of imperfectness, for we can be well aware of the Gospel and our identity in it, but we still suffer under addictive or habitual sins, which leaves us always in the mud of doubt and despair. But again we see biblical and modern christian leader/scholars who are just as flawed as we are. Abraham gave his wife away twice to another man, Noah passed out drunk and naked in his tent, King David suggested a political assassination from his deathbed, John Wesley, A.W. Tozer, David Livingston and Hudson Taylor were all horrific husbands and fathers who grossly neglected their families and finally, William Wilberforce, who fought for the abolition of slavery, also struggled with an opium addiction. Hence it would be good to conclude that feeling imperfect is perfect, for speaking about our imperfections honestly, gives glory to the unconditional grace we receive daily.

Now there is nothing positive about doubt, thats a given. For doubt always draws us back to our old identity in Adam, where defeat and darkness of sin looms. Doubt will always undermine our faith, for faith is confidence or assurance (Greek: hypostasis, cf Hebrews 11:1) in Christ's redemptive, sovereign and substitutionary work on the cross, while doubt leads to uncertainty, which always leads to fear. But with that said, is doubt the opposite of faith? I believe not. For there is a big difference between unbelief and doubt. Unbelief is a willful refusal to believe. It’s a deliberate decision to deny God, to not have faith. However doubt is dealing with uncertainty, hence you can believe in something but still carry a feeling of uncertainty. For example, i do not believe i can jump a 100m, thats for certain, no one can, but i fully believe (or have faith) i can jump 5m, though i am not as young as i use to be, so i may doubt i can jump 5m. Hence doubt can exist in belief. 

Also, since doubt is not a positive emotion within faith, one could consider it unhealthy. But i think otherwise. There is an element of healthiness in doubt. Doubt, according to Tim Bayer, 

''can help us grow into mature, healthy, well grounded followers of Jesus Christ. Tasting a bit of doubt can deepen your faith. It can give you a hardier, more enduring, more resilient faith.'' 

But an important point: Never leave doubt unchecked. Doing so according to Lee Strobel, can do great damage to our faith. It’s like a virus that can spread and infect us and do great damage. Why? Because doubt can gain a foothold in our minds, overtaking us to the point of insanity, where we feel its easier to not believe than believe. 

So, how do we deal with our moments of doubt? First create a community of biblical sound friendships. Meet regularly and talk about the doubts you experience. Pray together and ask the Holy Spirit to help those doubts. Secondly, this is a cliche, but read and study the Bible, take God at his word daily. Meditate on Hebrews 11, reading it over and over again. And lastly, acknowledge your weaknesses, know that he is strong when you are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9-11) and he that has began a good work in you, will complete it, till the day he comes (Philippians 1:6), then and only then will you be made perfect. Trust in God's unconditional grace, his loving embrace and his will and plan for your life, for he knew what he was doing when he created you. 

Sean Chalmers de Villiers is the editor of  Christo Semper blog. He has a B.A. in Theology and Pastoral studies from the University of Wales. Lives in Keuruu, Finland, with his wife and two kids.