God will never forgive you for having doubts about him—because there is nothing to forgive. Experiencing doubt is an essential part of living by faith.
Faith is not the absence of doubt. Faith is belief in the midst of doubt. Both faith and doubt are ever present in the believer’s mind. They must be, because faith without doubt can not exist; if you do not have doubt, then you do not have faith—you have fact.
A religion composed of absolute certainties is not the path of Christianity. God did not say, “The righteous shall live by fact.” God said, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Hab 2.4; Rom 1.17). In other words, the normal pattern of a Christian’s life is to live each day trusting God despite uncertainty.
Does God exist? Is Jesus God? Does he hear me? As long as we live on this side of heaven, we will live with doubt. This is not sin. This is soil. Doubt is the dirt out of which faith grows. When doubt buries your hope, water it with the promises sprinkled throughout Scripture; sun it with the warmth of Christian fellowship; serenade it in the harmony of prayer; and soon a flowering, emerald faith will sprout.
Photo by nobleIgnoble.
Sun, Dec 7, 2008
Featured, One Faith