Day 20: Doubt

“… O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou DOUBT?” Matthew 14:31

When it comes to doubting in the scripture, we probably all draw a black and white picture of “Doubting Thomas” in our minds. But, let us add some color to that picture, shall we?

What does doubt actually mean? It means a feeling of uncertainty or conviction. In other words, a doubting person has some serious questions in their mind about the believability of someone or something. That was truly the case with Thomas. He did not want to believe that Christ had risen from the tomb … at least not without seeing with his own eyes and putting his finger in the nail prints.

It seems as if this one incident has defined Thomas. It is as if any other good that he had done prior or after did not even exist; yet, we know that it did because we see his courage and his trust in John 11. Men have a way of making a mountain out of a molehill, do they not? Even in jest, we can create a monster in a hurry that grows to a disproportionate size!

Even you and I can get caught up in this practice … for how often do you and I judge another person and put a negative label on them? I can still hear my mother admonishes us to not call people (especially) children names (i.e. fat, stupid, dumb, baby, etc.). Why? Because that repeated name-calling can affect that person to the point that they start believing, acting, and becoming what they have been called. So, be very careful, my friend!

Well, that was a rabbit trail of all rabbit trails! That was definitely not the angle that I intended to go with this devotional. So, let us find our way back to the trail of doubting.

We have talked much about Satan and the warfare that we fight daily as a Christian. Doubt is definitely one of the tools that Satan loves to use in our lives to keep us in a weak, defeated state. I believe that confusion is its twin … by the way, did you know that Thomas means twin in Aramaic? Well, maybe they are triplets … with fear?!

Where does doubt, confusion, and fear come from? Well, not from God! I Corinthians 14:33 tells us that. So, if not from God, then from whom? The devil! Right? Does that mean that we can play the blame game and tell God that “the devil made me do it?” No, instead we are to follow the instruction in Ephesians 4:27 when we are told to “Neither give place to the devil.”

It is so easy to get caught up in doubt and fear, which causes confusion. We must strengthen ourselves in the Word of God. We must trust God to do as He has promised. He will not leave us powerless! He can give us a strong, sound mind.

I Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”