While doubt
is an unpopular problem to admit bearing, I can personally attest to many dark
nights full of deceiving whispers. Whether I wasn’t sure if God was who He said
He was, if He ever could truly love me, and if I was truly His, the questions flooded
and the fear overwhelmed me time and time again. Doubt, I think, is one of Satan’s two-edged swords,
because not only does he whisper lies to us about the security of our salvation
or the character of God, but he also tells us we’re the only one who deals with
it.
Recently, I was reading in Luke 7 the story of John the
Baptist in prison and he sends someone to ask Jesus “Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?” What
a sweet affirmation that I am not the only one who has dealt with doubt. Even John the Baptist, who lived in the
wilderness, ate nasty locusts, and baptized Jesus, had a moment when he said,
“Is He truly the One?” I love Jesus’ response in this passage. He says, “The blind receive their sight, the
lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the
poor have good news preached to them.” (Luke 7:22, ESV). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not offended
by John the Baptist’s question. He is
not surprised by it. But, what I love
even more is that He does not simply answer with a yes. Jesus responds with six eyewitness signs of
His power and deity.
Sometimes having faith strong enough to believe in what God
is calling me to believe just feels bigger than me. Sometimes life looks so broken, it’s hard to
believe God is good. I am learning that
having those thoughts is completely normal, because our enemy is very
real. The key, though as Jesus is
revealing to me, is how we combat it.
- · First of all, Scripture is to be our sword. We see very clearly when Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4), He repeatedly quotes God’s Word. From the depths of my heart I know His Word can truly set me free.
- · Second, Jesus does not respond with a simple yes, but with multiple signs He has performed. What a relief. I am not called to simply believe God will be faithful because He said so, but when Satan whispers lies, I can point back to time after time of God’s faithfulness to me. These signs are to be my tool to combat the devil.
This past spring I went on a mission trip to Brazil. While I was overjoyed and excited to be
there, a very large part of me was overwhelmed with fear and doubt. Time and time again, I thought of all the
things that could go wrong. I kept whispering
to myself, “God will deliver me. He is in
control.” But that nasty beast, doubt,
kept rearing his ugly head in my heart and mind. In the end, I looked back and saw how God had
been working all around me when I didn’t even know.
This past fall, my mom and her best friend were flying home,
when suddenly the plane’s engines failed.
As the plane plunged rapidly toward the ground, my mom frantically
texted my family to tell us one last time how much she loved us. Miraculously, the plane regained power in one
engine and made a very abrupt and rough landing. Although shaken up, my mom and her best
friend survived. As I boarded my own
plane months later for Brazil, not only did I have God’s Word as my weapon
against my persistent fears and doubts, but I also was claiming the
faithfulness of the same God who rescued two very dear pieces of my heart when
they were headed for a fatal crash.
Embracing the freedom from fear and doubt has been a sweet
gift from the Lord to me as I continue to reach out for that freedom on a daily
basis. You, too, can overcome Satan’s whispers of deception with God’s Word and
the beauty of your story He is writing.
For more
imperfect words of what Jesus is teaching me, checkout
emilykatherined.blogspot.com
