Christianity is a religion of faith. The Christian life is a walk of continual faith. Even so, doubts are common among Christians. We sometimes doubt what we know to be true about Jesus. Doubt is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. Rather, doubt alerts us to something amiss and causes us to question and dig deeper. When we are doubting Jesus, there are a few things to do.
First, we should pray. It may sound counterintuitive to pray to the One you doubt, but doubt can come from spiritual attack, sin, and hurt. Jesus is the only One who is fully sufficient in any of those cases. He can also give us wisdom (James 1:5).
The second thing to do is explore your doubts. Do you have a question about a particular belief you hold about Jesus? Look into it. Is your belief actually true? Is it biblically based? Sometimes we have doubts because we are believing the wrong thing. Sometimes we have doubts because we are believing things we've been told and have no foundation to bolster that belief. Either way, exploring will help us clarify our beliefs and shore up our faith.
Examining our doubts will also help us find their source. Sometimes doubts aren't really intellectual. Rather, they might be caused by emotional distress. In such situations, we can remind ourselves of the truth of God's Word and allow Him to minister to our hurt. Another cause of doubt is spiritual attack, in which case we should remind ourselves of the spiritual armor we have (Ephesians 6:10–18) and combat our doubts with the truth of God's Word, prayer, and submitting to God (James 4:7).
In examining our doubts, remember the advice of Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Prayer is so important as we explore our doubts because God's wisdom is different from that of this world (Isaiah 55:8–9; James 3:13–18). Our minds need to be renewed, and that is a work of the Holy Spirit in us.
A third thing to do is to talk with mature Christians. More than likely they, too, have struggled with doubts. It may be a different doubt than the one you are currently experiencing, but those who have gone before us can give us wise advice. Other Christians will also pray for us.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us to battle doubt with faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Faith is the component in our relationship with God that dispels doubt.
The faith that God requires is a reasoned faith. It is wise to explore our beliefs and make sure they are well-founded. But ultimately trust will be involved. We will never be able to prove, to one-hundred percent certainty, that Jesus exists and is who He says He is. But when we put our trust in Him, we will begin to experience the reality of His existence and the validity of things He said. As we continue to trust in Him, our faith will grow. As He continually proves Himself true to us, we'll continually grow in faith and our doubts will diminish.
So if you doubt Jesus, lean into it. Pursue Him. Pursue His truth. Ask Him for help. It doesn't take much to start, as Jesus told us in Matthew 17:20: "… if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." Exercise the mustard seed size faith you have and allow Him to make it grow.
Copyright 2011-2024 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved.
