The Upside of Doubt
Be merciful to those who doubt.
Jude 22
As a pastor for over 40 years, I experienced a whole lot of illogical tragedy and inexplainable suffering. I witnessed the moment when a little girl who had been struck by a drunk driver breathed her last. I watched bodies shrivel away with disease after years of suffering.
I held grieving spouses who experienced the untimely death of a mate. I agonized with those who tried to understand and heal from their sexual abuse.
During all of these, I did my best to encourage and comfort those who were victimized by this world’s brokenness and asked through wracking sobs, “Why?”
I sought to offer some sort of explanation to help them. Yet, on more than one occasion, I found myself grappling with my own doubts.
“How could a good God allow for this?” I wondered. “Where is there any redemptive value in this?” I pondered. Doubts as to God’s sovereignty and goodness began to niggle in my brain.
It didn’t end when I retired from active ministry. All around there are sad realities that make no sense.
Even now I witness the unending back pain of my brother who is dependent upon a walker to get around. I hear of the ongoing paralysis of a faithful missionary who fell down the stairs in a freak accident. And doubt whispers, “Why do you still believe?”
A man named Karl Broberg offered some insight on this. He writes, “Doubt is not a person of faith’s problem, but a human problem. We all have doubts; some just don’t admit them. Faith without doubt is not faith but knowledge.”
As believers we are called to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith in an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God. We’re told in the Bible that “…without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
Faith Antibodies
So then, what do we do with the reality of doubt?
We typically hate the fact that doubt haunts us. Moreover, all too often, we are ashamed of its presence in our hearts.
Yet have you ever considered that there’s an upside to doubt? That in fact doubt can be a good thing? Consider these words from the late Pastor Tim Keller:
“A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. It is susceptible to attack.
“People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic.
“It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with your doubts will you be able to provide grounds for skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible.”
Timothy Keller
The Reason for God
Do you see what Keller is saying? When your faith is given some doubt and you work through the doubt, you are stronger because of the doubt you worked through. You are better prepared to handle the onslaught of future struggles.
As much suffering as I have witnessed and experienced, I know that the greatest suffering is yet to come. And the fact that I grappled with that pain in the past and came through it, scarred yet convinced that God was still good and still in control, will enable me to hold on to my faith.
So don’t deny your doubts. And don’t begrudge your doubts. Embrace their reality, grapple with their legitimacy, and allow them to sink down your spiritual roots even deeper.
And take heart in this promise (my commentary added):
“Now we see but a poor reflection. (Now we experience confusion, questions, doubts.) Then we shall see face to face. (All the confusion will clear up, all the questions will be answered, all the doubts will be removed.) Now I know in part. (there’s so much I don’t know – with all of its uncertainty) Then I shall know fully (no more need for faith), even as I am fully known.”
I Corinthians 13:12
Grappling with Doubt?
Listen to the series "Faith and Doubt" on The Word for Everyday Disciples podcast. CLICK HERE to listen to the first episode.
Devotionals for Every Day Disciples is brought to you by our partners.
To support Dave DeSelm Ministries by becoming a partner, CLICK HERE.