What We Do When We Find Ourselves Doubting Jesus

Since faith is the way we please God and the only way to salvation, we Christians don’t like to express that we sometimes have doubts. Of course, God knows our thoughts before we think them, so we are not fooling Him. Trying to fool others is just prideful and trying to fool ourselves? Well, that is just silly. But there is a wonderful story in the Bible that shows us that doubt is sometimes going to pop up.

We find this story in Luke 7;18-23 and in Matthew 11:2-6.

In the story, we find John, stuck in a prison for simply being obedient to the call he was given by God. Listen to John’s question of doubt.

Luke 7:18-19
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

John, the one who baptized Jesus and then personally saw the heavens open, the Spirit of God come down from them, and rest upon Jesus. John, the one who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, and the same John who once said this about Jesus, John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This John expressed doubt later in his life.

Doubt isn’t something we should hold on to, for it will take away your joy if left unfettered. So, what do we do with doubt? The answer is simple. We do as John did and take it to Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. We pray when we doubt. Then we open His Word to hear the truth about the questions we have. Then we believe God. We believe the Word. The Word is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

Listen to the wonderful words of the psalmist who instructs us in how to fight doubt.

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

God spoke to Joshua and instructed him how not to doubt that he could lead the nation Israel.

Joshua 1:7-8
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

The Book of the law must depart from our mouths. We must follow the straight path it lays out. We need to be always thinking about its truth so that we may follow how God has instructed us to live.

Peter said this in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”

The knowledge of Him comes through the Word of God. It is the place we must go to remove all doubt.

Is Jesus Really Who He Says He Is? Dealing With Doubt

I like to think of myself as a man of much faith in Jesus. My entire life both here and after death is lived by believing that Jesus was a real man who came down from heaven where He is the Son of God to walk this earth in bodily form. By faith I believe that the Bible is true and that Jesus came and died and then was resurrected and now He sits at the right hand of God the Father where He intercedes for me. By faith I believe Jesus was more than a man, I believe He is one of the three persons of the Godhead we know as the trinity and thus He is fully God. I believe this by faith.

But I would be disingenuous if I told you I never have doubts. Sometimes I just get these strange thoughts that maybe all this is just it. Maybe when I die my life will just end. Maybe, I think, there will just be nothingness and all this faith I have in things unseen is just a coping mechanism to deal with the stress of life. Sometimes I just doubt.

How about you? Do you ever feel your faith wavering? Maybe in times of tragedy you start to question your faith. Maybe when you watch the news and see all the violence and all the pain of life and wonder if what you believe is really real. Well guess what? You and I are in good company.

John the Baptist was a great prophet who was given the task of being the one who would come before the arrival of Christ to prepare the world for His coming. He baptized Jesus. Imagine that. Jesus said this about John in Luke 7:28, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” John was a very important man in the history of Christianity. Yet, like you and I, John doubted. Read the story.

Luke 7:18-20
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

John the Baptist, called the last of the OT prophets, the man who literally baptized Jesus, was there as the Holy Spirit descended on Him, as the Heavens opened and God declared Jesus His beloved Son, later on questioned if Jesus was truly the Messiah. If you, like me, ever have doubts then you are in good company.

You see John was sitting in a prison cell with plenty of time to think. John had been faithful to the truth and was being punished for speaking out against sin. His message from the very beginning was one of repentance and he was unwilling to compromise truth for his own freedom and even his life. And now after all the faithfulness to his calling he had demonstrated, his faith wavered and he wondered if Jesus was who He really said He is.

Most of us can relate. Life is hard and sometimes it can beat you down. Maybe you came into your relationship with Jesus thinking it was all going to be smooth sailing and later when it got hard your faith wavered. Or maybe sometimes you just get alone and start to wonder. That’s ok. Jesus understands. Life is not easy and bad things happen all the time. Sometimes when we pray we don’t think God hears or maybe we wonder if He hears but just doesn’t care because He doesn’t act quickly or the way we think He should. But the Bible is clear that it is in these hard times in which our faith grows and in which we learn to persevere.

So what do we do when we doubt? We do what John did; we ask Jesus if He really is who He says He is. It’s called prayer. We also turn to His Word and we read it. We search out the promises and then we read the stories of those who came before us. They struggled too. Open up the Psalms and read how David wrestled with his own faith but then see how he found peace and comfort in spending time with God.

Let’s see how Jesus reacted to John’s doubt and how He responded to John’s questions.

Luke 7:20-23
 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”  In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.  And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

It’s ok to doubt. Warren Wiersbe says this in his commentary on Luke chapter 7, “There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind: we cannot understand what God is doing or why He is doing it. Unbelief is a matter of the will: we refuse to believe God's Word and obey what He tells us to do. "Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong," said Oswald Chambers; "it may be a sign that he is thinking." In John's case, his inquiry was not born of willful unbelief, but of doubt nourished by physical and emotional strain.”

So when doubt creeps in move closer to Jesus. Pray about it. Read your Bible. Begin to fellowship with other Christians who can encourage you and share in your life difficulties. Remember that we have an enemy who wants to mess up your life and take away your joy. So keep your eyes on Jesus.

I leave you with a scripture. It’s about faith.

Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

May God bless all who read this with the faith to carry on the work He sent us to do.