How To Handle Nagging Doubts?

Matthew 4:1-11

Satan loves to use fear and doubt against believers. He knows if he can get you to question God, then maybe you will give up and abandon His will for your life. Feelings of fear often precede feelings of doubt and uncertainty. If left unattended, these runaway emotions can cause you to stop trusting God and His ability to provide for you.

A first step to defuse doubts is to determine its origin. Begin by asking yourself if your feelings of doubt have a legitimate basis. Many times we struggle with thoughts and feelings that have no validity.

Second, reading God's word is a great way to combat fear and doubt. A daily reading program such as the one you're reading right now will show you many ways to handle doubt. The book of Psalms highlights many personal battles over emotions such as fear, doubt, loneliness, and discouragement. David and others made a conscious decision to trust the Lord through tremendously difficult circumstances and found that God never once failed them.

Prayer is also essential in fighting fear and doubt. In essence, prayer is faith in action. When we pray, regardless of whether we feel like it, we make a statement of faith. We pray because we see God as the solution to what we face. If you are facing a difficult situation, don't be slow in asking God to show you the best way to handle it. If your level of trust seems so low, don't worry. God is wise and kind. He wants to teach you more about Himself, not frighten you away. Your faith will increase as you get to know Him better.

Even if you don't have the emotional strength to trust God, you can still begin. God will be your strength. A.B. Simpson often told those who found themselves in a difficult spot, "When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming for Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary."

Always be honest with God; He knows it all anyway. Honesty breaks the pattern of doubt. The last thing Satan wants you to do is to go to God in prayer and tell Him you feel doubtful. He knows that God loves you with an eternal love and that if you come to Him for help, He will give you all the assistance you need.

Noah: Obedient and Dry

Genesis 6:22

Nothing indicated an approaching storm. Still, since Noah believed in God, he prepared for the downpour God promised. His friends must have mocked him, but he built an ark (Gen. 6).

Obedience is the cornerstone to our faith in God. While Noah's obedience led to God's blessing and reward, the disobedience of his contemporaries led to their destruction. At the time of the flood, the physical salvation of mankind fell to Noah and his willingness to be used by God.

The ark merely foreshadowed the eternal salvation from sin that is ours through Jesus Christ. Just as Noah's faith saved him and his family, so our faith saves us today. As we are told in Ephesians 2:8-9, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast."

Building the ark did not bring Noah any closer to the Lord-but his obedience and faith in God did. And it kept him safe and dry.

How Adversity Reveals Our Level of Faith

"When hardships come our way, do we respond, "God, I trust You to bring me through this"? Or do we tend to say, I'm doomed, and there's nothing anybody can do"?

God once sent a storm on the Sea of Galilee to teach Jesus' desciples a lesson on faith. Jesus had said to His men, "Let us cross over to the other side." (Mark 4:35), and they should have taken His statement as a sure sign that He expected a safe trip. But when a terrible wind storm threatened the boat, they panicked. The terrified desciples asked Jesus, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

How many times have we said the same thing? "Don't You care, Lord that this is happening to me? Don't You love me enough, Lord to do something about this hardship?"

Jesus rebuked the wind, and immediately a great calm settled on the lake. Then He turned to His desciples and said, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)

God has given to each one of us a measure of faith (see Rom 12:3), and He expects us to use it to overcome our fear.Fear always accompanies adversity; in fact, a degree of fear is what makes something an adversity instead of just another experience. Fear causes us to project the very worst that can happen-that we will never recover, that all hope is lost, that we will never again enjoy some treasured thing.

Faith tells the opposite story. Faith says that God is in control and that all things work together for our good (see Rom.8:28).Faith says that we will recover and that our final state will be better than anything we have experienced so far.

Allow adversity to call your faith to action rather than into question. Adversity reveals areas in which you need to act in faith and not fear. When hard times come, say to yourself, "Now is the time to use my faith in a new way." The more you use your faith, the greater it grows. "

Faith or Fear?

Being a busy person, you know from experience that life is not always easy. But even when you don't understand why the world unfolds as it does, never lose faith in God's ability through you to make a difference in that little corner of the world you call home.

Faith can and should be the hallmark of a well-lived life. Take it from Helen Keller's advice which says: "Faith is a spiritual spotlight that illuminates the path."

So, the next time you find yourself facing a fear-provoking situation, ask yourself which is stronger: your faith or your fear. Whatever your challenges, whatever your questions, whatever mountain you climb, God is there. He will help you work things out. Your job is to keep the faith until He does.

Psalms 121:8 (NIV)
"The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in, from this forth and forever."