THE STORM OF DOUBT

August 14, 2022

     Do you remember John Bunyan's novel, "Pilgrim's Progress"?  It was first published in 1678.  It is the story of man's progress through life to heaven or hell.  In the story, Christian and Hopeful pass through the Valley of Ease.  Leaving the valley they pass a pillar of salt that was Lot's wife.  They are lost and are captured by a giant named Despair.  Despair lives in Doubting Castle.  Christian and Hopeful are locked in the dungeon.

     Often, our life takes some unexpected twists and tragic turns.  We become overwhelmed by the storms of doubt.  We have our own personal "crisis of faith".  We end up passing the time away in "doubting castle".  To be sure, some of the choicest sons and daughters of God have been there.  The floor is damp with their tears.  The walls of that dungeon echo with their prayers.  Elijah has been there.  John the Baptist has been imprisoned there.  If we are honest, you and I will also admit that we have spent time there.  It is a trying experience that very few escape.  That then, causes us to wonder, is it possible for faith and doubt to co-exist?

     In Mark chapter 9 we read of a demon possessed boy.  Mark tells us of a desperate father who brought his son to Jesus.  This boy's life had been a long, dark night.  We are told that his father even brought the boy to Jesus' disciples and they could not heal him.  Jesus told the father that everything is possible to the man who believes.  The boy's father burst out, and said, I do believe, help me to believe more.  The KJV actually reads, "Help thou my unbelief".

     Can you see this anguished father watching his son?  That father is straining against the storm of doubt in his life.  He is desperately trying to find sufficient faith to believe.  Yet, he was bold enough to acknowledge his doubt and he asked Jesus to help him overcome that doubt.  I am thankful that God decided to include that candid dialogue in the scriptures for us.  You see, sometimes it seems we live among those who have never, not even for once, questioned their faith, they have never doubted.  The piety of folks like that makes me feel isolated.  It sometimes makes me feel weird, even out of place.  Yet, most of us, in anguish have cried out at some point in our lives, "Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief".

     John the Baptist even expressed doubt on one occasion.   John's uncertainty was not caused because he never met Jesus.  With some people that may be the cause of doubt, but it was not with John.  John did more than know Jesus personally.  He actually bore witness for Jesus.  To be sure, John did not slip into sin nor was he unfaithful.  He had rebuked Herod and was thrown into prison for it.  From that prison cell he sent men to Jesus to ask if he was the one that should come or do they look for another.  John's doubts came about because he was idle, he had too much time on his hands.  He misunderstood the mission of Jesus and so he spent time being tossed about in the storm of doubt.

     Perhaps the most famous person ever in the storm of doubt is Thomas.  That is why we usually refer to him as "Doubting Thomas".  Just so you know, in some ways my heart goes out to Thomas.  Over the years some have referred to him as "Reflective Thomas" and others as "Cautious Thomas".  We actually see Thomas doubting on several occasions.  John 11 displays a raw expression of doubt.  Lazarus is dead and Jesus is going to Judea.  Jesus is facing certain death to go back to Judea and Thomas says, "Let's go also so we may die with him."  That's in John 11:16.  Then John chapter 14 shows us that Thomas had doubts about the future.  Jesus had just told them he was going away and would prepare a place for them.  Thomas blurts out "Lord we know not where you are going, how can we know the way".  That's when Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth and the life".  Then of course there is that occasion we are most familiar with after the resurrection of Jesus.  That first time Jesus appeared to his disciples, Thomas was not there.  The others told him they had seen the Lord.  Thomas said unless he saw the imprints of the nails in his hand and put his finger in the hole in his side, he would not believe.  A few days later, Jesus came again and THomas was there.  Jesus told him to reach with his finger and see his hands.  Thomas answered and said, "My Lord and My God". Passing through the  storm of doubt, he found a firm faith.

     We can do a great job of criticizing Thomas.  When we call him "doubting Thomas" it is a term of derision. Yet, we often have our own storm of doubt in our life.  We go through our own "crisis of faith.  Either you have, or you will, it will come.  It will come as sure as the storms of the weather.  Often in our season of doubt, our crisis of faith, we suffer alone.

     There are times when the storms of doubt overwhelm our lives.  When they do, they become our schoolroom.  As we work our way through those storms, a new faith is forged.  It will come slowly.  It is shaped on the mysterious anvil of God's plan.  Yet, even in doubt, we must remember the promise of God.  "All things work together for good."

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