When Christians Doubt God
How long have you been a Christian? Do you ever struggle with doubt? How did you deal with it? You are not alone. Most Christians at some point in their walk with God have struggled with doubt.
Doubt: What is it?
Doubt may be defined as the uncertainty of belief or lack of confidence in something. It is important to clarify that doubt is not the absence of faith. Doubt is when you question what you already believe.
Applied to the Christian life, doubt refers to the lack of confidence in God and His Word that Christians occasionally exhibit.
It is possible that in a moment of infirmity a Christian may doubt the existence of God in spite of the fact that it is not reasonable for a person to disbelieve this obvious truth. As Psalm 14:1 says, “Only the fool will say in his heart that there is no God, for they are corrupt.” Indeed, Faithlessness is Foolishness.
Occasions when Christians Doubt
A Christian is more likely to doubt his salvation after sinning or after a spiritual defeat. A misunderstanding of such verses as 1 John 3:9 contributes to this doubt: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin.” It is crucial to note that this verse speaks of a lifestyle of sin, not instances of sin.
A Christian may also doubt God’s sovereignty or His goodness. In such circumstances as sickness, suffering, injustice, opposition, economic problems, family problems, national calamity, or apparently unanswered prayer, a Christian may be tempted to doubt the goodness of God.
One must remember that it is not always possible to discern God’s good hand in the affairs of life. But the person of faith believes God even when circumstances appear to the contrary.
Sources of Doubt
Why do Christians doubt God? The three common sources of doubt are Satan, the world system, and the Christian himself.
1. Satan
One of the most potent sources of doubt is introduced in the early chapters of Genesis. It is Satan himself who causes Eve to doubt God by questioning His Word.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’” (Genesis 3:1)?
Satan even tries to get the longsuffering Job to curse God (Job 1:11; 2:9).
Satan is also said to be seeking to devour Christians: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
But this statement must not be taken literally; it means that Satan wants to devour the Christian’s commitment to God and their testimony before others. One way he does this is by introducing doubt into their minds.
2. The World
The world system is another source of doubt. Since it has its own set of values and objectives that are opposed to God; it also has its own worldly wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6). This wisdom stands in direct opposition to the wisdom of God taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13).
While worldly wisdom appeals to the senses and emotions of man, thus telling them to follow their hearts, godly wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
Christians are exhorted by the Word of God to not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) and to not love the world or the things in this world, for all that is in the world –the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world (1 John 2:15-16).
3. Spiritual Immaturity
Probably the greatest source of doubt Christians face is simply their own immaturity.
James traces doubting in prayer to double-mindedness and instability (James 1:6). Paul explains that when Christians doubt sound doctrine, it is because they are children in the faith and thus are easily deceived (Ephesians 4:14).
If we are to overcome doubt, we need to continue seeking God and His will. We must desire to grow and mature in our spiritual walk with the Lord. One of the signs of spiritual maturity is to be able to stand firm in our faith even when things in life get tough.
How to Overcome Doubt
The cure for doubt depends to some extent on the thing doubted. However, the real problem is not in the object doubted but in the subject who doubts. Therefore, the following steps should be taken by the doubting Christian:
a. Confess the doubt to God as sin.
All doubt may be traced ultimately to unbelief in the Word of God, which affirms beyond question the existence and character of God.
While it is okay to sometimes doubt and question why unpleasant things are happening in our life, it is important that we regard doubt as the sin of unbelief and then confess it to God immediately.
Allowing doubt to linger in our life is one way of giving the devil a foothold in us. Thereby, confronting doubt and confessing it to God is the first step towards overcoming it.
When we do confess, God has promised to hear our confession of even the darkest unbelief.
b. Study the evidence for the Christian faith.
Christians have nothing to fear by looking into the facts from any source of knowledge.
The greatest evidence for the validity of Christianity, the resurrection of Christ, is attested by many proofs. Among these are the empty tomb, post-resurrection appearances, and transformed disciples. Since the Resurrection is true, it verifies everything the Bible says.
To read more of the evidence of the resurrection, you may want to grab your copy of The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona.
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c. Make certain of your salvation.
Paul exhorts Christians to examine themselves to make sure they are Christians (2 Corinthians 13:5). So did the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:1-9).
Do you really belong to the body of Christ? Have you confessed Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Are you completely surrendered to God and living according to His Word? Will your faith be proven genuine when tested by fire (1 Peter 1:7)?
Salvation from sin is by simply trusting in Jesus Christ, that is, placing your faith in the finished works of Christ. Until you are assured of your salvation you will be troubled by enormous doubts.
d. Faithfully study the Word of God.
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
We must immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Through the study and application of the Bible, our faith is strengthened and matured. Most especially, we must master the doctrines or basic teachings of the Bible if we are to be stable, mature Christians (1 Timothy 4:13, 16; 2 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:1, 10).
When our beliefs are established on the truth, we are more likely to stand in times when doubts start kicking in.
e. Pray.
The surest way to face doubts when they come is to have an extensive history of answered prayer.
The more a Christian prays with faith, the more that Christian sees God answer prayer; the more a person sees God answer prayer, the stronger that person’s faith becomes while the doubt becomes less.
Closing Thoughts
Understand that doubting is normal. Abraham, who is called the father of faith, doubted God several times. When his life was in danger, he lied in order to save himself (Genesis 12:10-13). We thought he learned his lesson and has learned to trust God more. Yet, he doubted God’s promise again and repeated his error (Genesis 20:1-2).
When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was really the Messiah, or whether they should expect someone else (Matthew 11:1-3; Luke 7:18-20). What? John the Baptist? The cousin and forerunner of Jesus? The one who baptized Him and saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him?
John knew the evidence but his sense of being abandoned while in prison brought on emotional doubt.
This can happen to anyone of us and when it does, we can be sure that God understands us and is patient with us. But we need to confess our doubts as sin and trust that God’s presence is with us even when we don’t always feel it (Hebrews 13:5 NIV).