The Damage of Doubting

Week 10, Wednesday
Teresa Brown

 

Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. James 1:6-7 (nkjv)

Satan’s most effective, most destructive, most time-tested weapon used against believers is doubt. When that slick-talking snake with the velvet voice sowed the first seed of doubt in Eve’s mind by questioning what God had said (see Genesis 3:1), it started a spiritual tsunami which called into question God’s love, God’s character, and His motives down through the pages of history, even among the Bible’s spiritual giants.

I wonder if Abraham shook his head doubting as he watched Sarah light the ninety-eighth candle on his birthday cake and there was still no Isaac. I wonder if Moses doubted God’s resolve to take the Hebrew people to the Promised Land as the Ten Commandments came crashing down on their idolatrous golden calf. I wonder if Joseph doubted God’s purpose for his life as he cried out pitifully to his treacherous brothers from the back of a caravan headed for Egypt and slavery.

Under the right circumstances, even the most committed, sincere followers have fallen prey to the ravages of demonic doubt. You know the scenario. The path of life gets steeper. The way becomes more treacherous. Joy disappears behind dark clouds of worry and disappointment. Obstacles block the way to happiness and fulfillment. Pain obscures hope. And suddenly the Devil uses life’s difficult circumstances to invalidate your most holy faith the same way he misled poor Eve—by whispering doubt about God’s ability to keep His promises.

Do you still believe? Even a little faith chases away doubt. Despite everything life has thrown at you, are you still reaching up to God in faith, albeit with a trembling heart and a shaking hand? Then hold on! You must not give up and you cannot give in. Even though your faith may be as small as a mustard seed or as weak as a flickering candle God calls it mountain-moving, problem-solving, world-changing faith. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, nkjv). Amen.

Similar Posts

  • The Power of Prayer

    Week 17, Friday Lori Frank   Three times a day [Daniel] got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10 Prayer is often spoken of as a spiritual discipline, and rightly so. And yet, this insinuates that prayer is merely a task or a duty…

  • The Gift of Life

    Week 28, Wednesday Diane Strack   “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18 (nkjv) Do you remember your day of salvation? It has been thirty-eight years,…

  • When You Lift Their Names – Part 2

    Praying big prayers for our children is not just praying in a way that we are comfortable or lack belief; it is bold and purposeful.  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” — Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) Ministry wives carry many burdens quietly, but one of the heaviest is the constant prayerful concern for our children. As we support our husbands and serve the church, our hearts remain tethered to our sons and daughters’ spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. It’s easy to shrink our prayers to what feels manageable or “”realistic,””—but we serve a God who deals with the impossible. Ephesians 3:20 reminds us that God can do “”immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”” That includes our children’schildren’s faith, friendships, futures, and failures. As women deeply embedded in ministry life, we often pray for protection: Lord, shield them from the hypocrisy they may witness. Guard their hearts from resentment. Keep them from rebellion.Those are essential prayers—but what if we also began to pray big, bold, heaven-sized prayers? Bold prayers are not safe prayers. Bold prayers are prayers of faith. Bold prayers take us from what we can…

  • Walk the Talk—Always

    Week 29, Weekend Dayna Street   For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 (nasb) Nineteenth-century English evangelist and orphanage founder George Müller once wrote, “Our walk counts far more than our talk, always!”[i] Müller built five facilities that provided homes for over ten thousand orphans…

  • |

    Rhythms of Rest

    Happy Fourth of July to you and your family!  I am hopeful that you are resting and enjoying the freedoms that we experience in this, imperfect but free country!  Today, the fourth of July, my family is at the beach.  We didn’t take a vacation last year, and so most of us have gathered at…

  • No Benefit in Worrying

    Week 40, Wednesday Shari Falwell Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 Women tend to worry. And if worry isn’t dealt with, it can become all-consuming. I can worry about my husband, kids, friends, other family members, to-do lists, other activities,…