We began this series looking at three silent killers: fear, guilt, and shame. I mentioned a bonus may come after a friend wisely pointed out another silent killer: doubt.
And so, this article will examine doubt and see how slyly it sneaks in to spy out our joy and hope in Christ.
Many of us understand doubt. If we’re honest with ourselves, we will even grant that doubt is part of living.
Indeed, our doubts are actually pretty wide and diverse. Take, for example, the political landscape and sports. I’ll start with sports. As an Aggie, I have gotten used to letdowns each fall. I begin with high hopes, looking to another great year of recruiting, but, as it turns out, the Aggies can’t seem to pull out the National Championship. And so, while I have high hopes, I doubt they will “actually” win. What about politics? Is it possible to doubt that your political party might win? Even if they win, do you find yourself doubting that it will actually bring about the kind of real change needed to solve society’s ills?
Let’s move this topic to a more personal level. What about the Easter bunny? Santa Claus? Tooth Fairy? All three of these figures don’t exist, but for many children, they do; well, until they don’t. Not making any judgment on those who brought them to life in their children’s lives, but imagine that moment when the child realizes Dad was Santa, Mom was the tooth fairy, and well, the Easter Bunny just got in the way. I digress. What happens is, kids face disillusionment, and a seed of doubt is sown, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Doubt is part of life. We experience it every day. As we briefly examined above, doubt is personal, political, relational, and much more. And so, on the one hand, doubt is not inherently wrong. Doubting the success of a football game has no real consequences on my eternal destiny, and may actually help me enjoy the game more.
However, doubt becomes a problem when applied to our spiritual life. Take, for instance, anxiety. If we were to trace the source of anxiety, we would pass the reality of facing an undesirable outcome and arrive at the object we are hoping meets our needs. It is here, by examining the object, that we understand if this thing was designed to make us happy or pleased or whatnot.
Thus, to put it the opposite way, the object of our faith ought to regulate and alleviate our doubt.
So, what are we to make of doubt? Let’s look at it from a biblical, theological, and practical standpoint.
Biblical.
Doubt begins in the Garden of Eden, leading to the first sin and, subsequently, sinful humanity. Doubt continued as Abraham and Sarah, doubting God’s promise, used Hagar to conceive a child (Gen. 16:1-4). Moses doubted his usefulness and sought a way out from going to Pharaoh and liberating God’s people (Exodus 3:11). Gideon doubted God’s presence with His people (Judges 6:13), and Elijah doubted God’s power to save him after seeing it on magnificent display (1 Kings 19:4).
Doubt continues into the New Testament as Peter, sinking into the water, hears Christ say, “…you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). Later, Thomas, aka Doubting Thomas, doubted Christ’s resurrection until he saw in “His hands the mark of the nails” (John 20:25). There is a tension, isn’t there, when it comes to doubting and having faith? We see this explicitly in the desperate cry of a father seeking his son’s healing: “…I believe help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). The agony of this experience was well captured by Arthur Pink, who wrote a little pamphlet on it titled The Believer’s Paradox.
Pink essentially argues that, for the Christian, doubt is an indication of belief. He contends, “No unbeliever ever shed tears over his unbelief; no empty professor ever groaned because of his questioning of God; no hypocrite is burdened by his doubts and fears.”* In other words, to doubt is to have a measure of faith. And, for the Christian, we believe that faith is not from within a person, being generated, manufactured, divined, purchased, or conjured, but is instead a gift of God so that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thus, if faith is a gift, doubting while seeking to believe is part of the process for a fallen person in a broken world.
Doubt rightly guided points us to deeper faith.
Theological.
To say that guided doubt leads us to deeper faith is to say that our faith or trust is anchored in an immovable, eternal, infinite, and personal God. Only the Trinity, taught in the Christian faith, can meet these qualities and infinitely more. Indeed, it is the Trinity that is the object of faith and the source of faith.
It follows that when I doubt, I have taken my eyes off the Triune God and placed them squarely on something or someone not designed to sustain my trust—thus, doubt.
Yet doubt exposes my lack of faith and, for the Christian, draws them deeper into God. The journey of the Christian, then, is a journey of seeking to know even as we are known and grow in faith. Therefore, faith is the means through which God transacts His will, not the source. The Triune God is the objective source, and faith is the conduit through which God’s grace flows to the Christian. Thus, it is not the “amount” of faith that I possess but whether or not it is real or genuine.
The Trinity is the Source and Sustainer of genuine faith.
Practical.
We doubt, just as the father in Mark 9 does. We doubt, just like Peter, beginning to sink into the sea after taking his eyes off Christ. We all doubt. Yet, rightly directed doubt moves us deeper into God. Anxiety, thus, has an answer. We draw near to God with real faith as the conduit through which God executes His will. At the same time, there may be times or seasons when doubt seems to stay around and visit us far too long. In those seasons, it is important to know you are not alone, to remind yourself of the Object and character of your faith, and to surround yourself with other Christians and counsel that will encourage and fill your heart with truth and love.
Doubt as an experiential reality causes us to face our days with an open hand. We leave outcomes in God’s hands. We prepare, plan, and work with excellence, yet remind ourselves daily that our trust is in God, not in circumstances or outcomes. Our faith is rooted in a Person who loved us and gave Himself up for us.
Replace doubt with trust.
God help us, Amen!