This is part 4 of what will be a 5 part series, dealing with doubt. in my experience, people say that the concept of God doesn’t make any sense, for two main reasons. One of those reasons is that an all-powerful being just speaking the universe and humanity into existence out of nothing simply makes no sense. I dealt with that in part 1 of this series. The other reason that people tend to doubt the existence of God is the question of why, if He exists, does God let bad things happen to good people. I discussed that in parts 2 and 3 of this series. Those first 3 parts were mostly intended to help people who doubted the existence of God to come to believe in His existence, though believers and nonbelievers alike may have found them helpful. Parts 4 and 5 will be primarily focused on helping Christians to deal with doubt in their lives.
I have a question for the Christians, to those who profess Christ as Lord and Savior, as I do. Do you ever find yourself having doubts about He in Whom you profess faith? Many Christians would say that they do not. Well, I can tell you that I do. The longer I walk with Him, the less doubts I have, but I still have them occasionally. I bet you do too. I think most Christians, if they are really honest about it, occasionally have doubts, about God’s existence or His goodness. Many of them may not admit it, because they find it embarrassing or because they think it signifies something wrong with their faith. However, I believe that all of us have some level of doubt, at least at times, and I think it helps us to support one another in our Christian walk if we are open about that.
We wouldn’t be the first to have doubts. Jesus encountered them in the people He dealt with. Look at how He handled one such doubter.
Mark 9
14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.
15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.
16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.
18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood.
22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”
26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Let’s think about the attitude of the father of the child in this passage. In verse 22, he said to Jesus “if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us”. He did not say “I know you can do something”. He said “if”. In verse 23, Jesus responded with His own “if”. He said “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes”. In verse 24, the father of the child said “Lord, I believe” but that isn’t all he said. He also said “help my unbelief!”. Can you identify with the dad here? Do you sometimes feel yourself saying, in your heart, “What can You do?” or “What will You do?”, so wanting to believe, to trust, but struggling? I can identify with him. I think many Christians can.
I think it is this kind of doubting that is understandable, that even God understands and, in fact, that God will even bless. The book of Jude is, over all, very harsh toward unbelievers and talks of the judgement that awaits them. However, Jude 22 tells us that we are to have compassion on those who doubt, “making a distinction”. I believe that He is telling us to make a distinction between scoffers of the faith and those who sincerely and whole heartedly want to believe but are struggling, people like the dad in Mark 9.
How did Jesus respond to the the dad in Mark 9? He rebuked the unclean spirit and commanded it to come out of the boy. When did He do that? It was “When Jesus saw that the people came running together” (Mark 9:25). Why is that significant? I think Jesus wanted people to see the result of faith in Him, even if it was struggling faith, even if it was imperfect faith, just as all of our faith is imperfect. He did what He did, at least in part, for His Name sake. What He does for us, He does “that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Here, the Father was glorified, both to the dad and to the other people who witnessed this. I bet their faith struggled a little less after this, at least for a while.
Now, let’s switch to Matthew’s account of this incident, and pick up where we just left off in Mark, to look at another aspect of it.
Matthew 17
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Why could the disciples not cast out the demon? Jesus very clearly said that it was because of their lack of faith. The disciples had cast out demons before this and they had seen Jesus do it. However, something, we don’t know what, made this situation different. Perhaps it was the physical manifestations (convulsing, foaming at the mouth, etcetera). Whatever it was, something made the disciples faith dip below the level required to perform the task at hand. That must have been a particularly low level too because faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). You see, the disciples sometimes lacked faith too. Remember that the next time you’re inclined to judge yourself too harshly for not having enough faith. Just do as the dad did and tell Him that you belief but to help your unbelief. Admit to Him that you’re struggling and ask Him to help you. It worked for the dad. It will work for you, too.
It was in the following verses where we see the disciples, having had their lack of adequate faith so publicly exhibited, give up and walk away from the ministry to which Jesus had called them. Remember that? No? Me either, because it didn’t happen. They went on to minister for Jesus, to perform many miracles in His name, to live for Him, and ultimately, for most of them, to die for His Name sake, faithful to the end. They were able to do this because they were empowered by His faithfulness to the end. When you stumble in your faith, as they did, both before and after this, don’t give up. Ask Him to give you the strength, the wisdom, to press on through the doubt, to find the answers you seek, to do the things you thought your faith wasn’t strong enough to do.
What do you do when you say “I believe, help my unbelief” and what you’re asking Him for still doesn’t happen? I will talk about that in the next article. If you believe in Him but do not have a personal relationship with Him, Please check out the “The Most Important Thing” section of the SDM website.
