Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.
Elizabeth Elliott
It would be easy to trust God if doubt never came to visit us, but it does, so we must learn to deal with it. It is easy to wish for no opposition in anything, but it isn’t realistic. If only there were no temptations. If only there were no fear. If only doubt didn’t exist! But they do, and yet they don’t have to be the problem we often allow them to be. God tells us to have faith and not to doubt, and yet He never tells us that doubt won’t come for an occasional visit. The whole reason the Lord tells us not to doubt is because He knows it will come and He wants us to be ready to deal with it swiftly and accurately when it does.
I was recently doing a television program on which I was answering viewers’ questions about trust. A woman sent in a question through our website about doubt. She stated that she tries to trust God, she wants to trust God, but she cannot seem to get rid of the doubt that plagues her, and she asked me what she could do.
Perhaps you have the same question; I know that I did at one time. The truth is that we cannot keep doubt from coming and trying to steal our faith and trust in God. But when doubt comes, we can choose not to let it affect us. We can learn to doubt our doubts!
When God tells us not to do something, He isn’t telling us that we will never be tempted to do it or never feel like doing it or need to resist doing it. He is actually telling us the opposite. Why tell us to “fear not” unless we are going to have an opportunity to fear? Why tell us not to come into temptation unless we are going to be tempted? Why tell us not to doubt unless we are going to have an opportunity to doubt?
Doubt will come, but we don’t need to let it make us waver concerning the promises of God.
Abraham is the best example I know of when we want to study how a person in relationship with God handles doubt. Abraham had received a promise from God that he and Sarah would have a child. His situation in the natural world was impossible because they were both past their years of being able to have children. According to Scripture, Abraham had no reason at all to hope, but he hoped on in faith (see Romans 4:18).
When he considered the impotence of his own body and the barrenness of Sarah’s deadened womb, Abraham still did not weaken in faith (see Romans 4:19). Unbelief and distrust did not make him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, because he received strength by praising God (see Romans 4:20). God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah came to pass, although it took quite a bit longer than they had originally thought it would.
I can only imagine how doubt tried to keep people we read about in Scripture from moving forward with God. The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who trusted God although they experienced great opposition, hardship, and at times unjust treatment. Surely doubt visited Joseph while he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit… and Esther as she prepared to go before the king without being invited even though it was a crime punishable by death… and Paul as he traveled bringing the Gospel of Christ, only to be faced with terrible persecution, prison, beatings, hunger, and other hardships. Yet each of these people saw the faithfulness of God, and they fought the good fight of faith.
I recently realized that being set free from something through the mercy of God doesn’t always mean the disappearance of that thing. We are free from our painful past, but it may still try to visit us occasionally. We are free from fear, but it shows up at inopportune times just to see if it can once again gain entrance into our lives.
In Luke chapter 4, we see an account of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. During the forty days He was there, He endured a variety of temptations, successfully resisting each one. Yet the Bible states that when the complete cycle of temptation was completed, the devil went away to wait for a more opportune time (see Luke 4:13). In other words, Jesus won the battle, but other battles would come. Opposition will come!
The challenges we experience test our faith in God. It is tried in the furnace of affliction, and hopefully comes out strong and imperishable. Doubt, fear, and worry are all part of the opposition. With opportunity comes opposition (see 1 Corinthians 16:9). Paul said that when he wanted to do good, evil always came (see Romans 7:21). We don’t have to let it defeat our faith, but it will come!
Opposition comes in many forms, but regardless of how it comes, its intention is to get us to give up on the hope of receiving what God has promised us.
While we are seeking to do the will of God, we may find people opposing us. The apostles had to deal with opposition from religious leaders and the Romans on a regular basis. Jesus certainly had to deal with opposition from people who rejected and despised Him. They accused Him falsely, criticized and belittled Him, but He stayed focused on doing His Father’s will. At times, the people who oppose us are the ones we depended on to encourage us, and if that happens it can be particularly painful. Jesus’ own brothers thought He was mad and were embarrassed to be with Him.
We are all familiar with circumstances that stand in opposition to us and make it difficult for us to complete our goals. For one month I once kept a list of things that happened in the course of everyday life that were unexpected, frustrating, and took time and energy. During that time, I was trying to finish a book manuscript, preparing for upcoming conferences, filming for television, and traveling to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end of the thirty days, I had a very long list of opposing circumstances, ranging from spilling a red vitamin drink on a white couch to falling on the stairs.
These types of things are annoying at best, but some circumstances are more serious and require even more of our attention. When something opposes us, it stands in the way of us doing what we intend to do. We can all be assured that when we attempt to wholeheartedly follow God, Satan will find a way to oppose us.
As well as the tangible things I have mentioned, we are also frequently opposed by thoughts and emotions that are intended to weaken our trust in God. Doubt is only one of them. There are also fear, anxiety, dread, hopelessness, worry, and a host of others. However, we can be encouraged to know that many of the men and women of God who have gone before us have pressed through and fulfilled the will of God, and with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can and will do the same.
We should “watch and pray” as we are instructed in God’s Word to do (see Matthew 26:40–41; 1 Peter 4:7). Pay attention to the things that oppose your faith and try to prevent you from being obedient to God. Recognize them for what they are and don’t let them rob you of your inheritance from God.
Concerning doubt, remember that feeling doubt doesn’t mean that you don’t have faith and are not trusting God. It means that Satan is bringing the temptation to stop us from trusting Him, but we can consider the source of the doubt and realize we shouldn’t believe it.
For example, let’s say that I heard that someone said something critical about me, but it was someone who has criticized many people and they don’t really know anything about me. I would not get upset about their criticism because I would consider the source. We should do the same thing when ungodly feelings and thoughts come and tempt us to stop trusting God. Jesus told His disciples to pray that they would not come into temptation (see Luke 22:40). Temptation would come, but they had a choice about whether or not to receive it.
For me personally, it’s been very helpful to understand that just because I feel fear, it doesn’t mean that I am a coward, and that just because I feel doubt, it doesn’t mean I no longer trust God. We cannot defeat our enemy if we don’t recognize him! Doubt is a friend of fear, and both of them are our enemies!
Have you ever been in the presence of an irritating noise and turned on your radio or television to keep from hearing it? I stay at a condo sometimes that is normally very quiet, but once a week in the evening, a restaurant/bar down the street has a band that plays very loud music that I don’t like, and it distracts me. They have some kind of portable wall that slides open so the music blasts outside as well as inside. I have learned that if I turn my television up a little bit, it drowns out the sound of the music.
I think what Abraham did when he defeated doubt and unbelief through praising God is a different example of the same thing. He heard and felt the doubt, but tuned out the noise from Satan by offering up praise.
I’ve heard that part of praise is telling a tale or a story about something good that God has done. Perhaps when Abraham sensed the doubt, he started asking Sarah if she remembered the time when they left their home in Haran to follow God but had no idea where He wanted them to go. God led them, step by step, and I am sure there were many stories about the goodness of God that they could recount and talk about.
Dave and I do the same thing often. We enjoy talking about the beginning days of our ministry and all the challenges we faced and how faithful God has been. When I remember those times, I find it difficult to doubt God. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel doubt, but I tune it out and I consider the source!
God would not have given us any instruction in His Word not to doubt unless He knew it would come to attack our faith. Doubt is the devil’s tool to keep us from doing the things that God wants us to do and having what He wants us to have.
When Jesus was on His way to heal a man’s dangerously ill daughter, others kept stopping Him and asking for healing also. He stopped to help them, and on one occasion, while He was ministering to a sick person, the man’s servants came, telling them not to continue their journey because the girl had died. Scripture states that Jesus heard them, but ignored them, and told the man to continue believing (see Mark 5:22–43). You see that even Jesus had to ignore reports that were intended to bring doubt. He was tempted in the same ways that we are, yet He never sinned (see Hebrews 4:15).
In Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, “doubt” is partially defined as “to be without a way,” or “to be without resources.” We are never without a way because Jesus is the Way (see John 14:6). We may not see the way, but that is exactly when we need to trust God. Faith and trust are for the times in life when we don’t know what to do or have no resources of our own. Jesus is not only the Way—He is also our Source! There is nothing any of us will ever need that He cannot provide.
People may tell you there is “no way,” and the devil may whisper that there is “no way,” but you can remember that “the Way” is living in you and He is with you! Will you trust Him all the way through to victory?
Forty years ago, when God called me to teach His Word, I was working forty hours a week in addition to being a wife and mother. My busy schedule left me with inadequate time to study the Bible properly in order to prepare the teachings I was being led to do at our weekly Bible study.
I felt strongly in my heart that I should take a huge step of faith and quit my job in order to spend more time studying God’s Word. Dave agreed, and I left my employment and my income. Our bills were a little more each month than Dave’s paycheck, and I remember how doubt and fear would attack me, telling me that God would not provide and that I had made a bad decision to give up my job.
In my heart I felt I had done the right thing, but my head kept arguing with me. I was tormented to the point of being quite miserable. Then one morning while I was walking through the house, God spoke to my heart and simply said, “You can either try to take care of yourself and live in fear and doubt, or you can trust Me to provide for you in miraculous ways.” I was at a crossroads in my faith; I needed to stop being double-minded and decide if I was going to trust God or not.
God gave me the grace to trust, and for six years we watched God provide month after month in amazing ways. During those years, my faith grew and I learned by experience that God is faithful. I still look back and remember those years, and I am glad I had them because they were used to bring me closer to God than ever before.
If you feel God is leading you to do something but as soon as you step out in faith you are attacked by doubt, don’t be surprised. Your faith is being tested, and although it may be challenging, it is a good thing. The more you learn to trust God through experience, the easier it becomes to do so. You will experience His faithfulness in new ways, and each time you do, it will make you stronger.
I once heard that doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. Don’t let doubt derail your faith. Recognize it for what it is and move past it in faith!