Post by Murph on Apr 24, 2024 7:14:22 GMT -6
Doubt and the Christian Life
Despite what you may have been led to believe, the Christian faith is populated by scores of “Doubting Thomases.” While Jesus’s most skeptical apostle has received his fair share of criticism over the years, Thomas is in good company among the redeemed since it is precisely his doubt that the risen Lord shows up to dispel (John 20:24–29). Rather than belittling him for his apparent lack of faith, Jesus’s gesture to dissolve Thomas’s doubt by pointing him to the wounds that secured his righteousness remains indicative of the good news that the church still extends to doubting sinners today.
Trusting in God’s word doesn’t necessarily preclude doubt, since our hearts are made of feeble and faithless stuff. Those who have led you to believe that faith and doubt are incompatible would benefit greatly by re-reading the Psalms. King David, who was one of the most prolific psalmists, confesses his doubt and distrust on multiple occasions with words that paint a vivid picture of his despair (Ps. 13:1–2; 44:24; 79:5; 89:46). In many ways, the Psalms are tailor-made for seasons of doubt since they are able to capture the guttural feelings of dejection and despondency in ways that are often beyond us, while at the same time conveying a hope beyond hope, which is that God doesn’t meet our doubt with withdrawal.
The posture of God toward sufferers and doubters isn’t one of detachment or disappointment. He isn’t aloof or alarmed when we struggle with seasons of doubt, even prolonged ones. Rather, his word and his Spirit are primed to dissolve doubt, not by offering listicles of disciplines to accomplish or incentives for works done, but by placarding the indissoluble fact that Jesus’s passion and death is the surety of every sinner’s standing before the Lord Almighty. God’s word is brimming with hope for doubters and sufferers precisely because its message is for them, right where they are.
corechristianity.com/resources/articles/doubt-and-the-christian-life