Faith vs Doubt

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Proverbs 3:5-6     Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths

Matthew 17:20     “Truly, I tell you, if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing would be impossible.”

Mark 9:23      “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe?  All things are possible for one who believes.’”   

Mark 16:16     Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.   

John 3:36     Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Acts 16:31     And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Romans 1:5     Through Him we received grace and apostleship to call all thee Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name’s sake.

Romans 10:9-10     Because if confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Romans 10:17     “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Romans 15:13     May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Ephesians 2:8-9     “For by grace you have been saved through faith.   And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Hebrews 10:36-39     You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith.  And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.           

Hebrews 11:1-3. 6      Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the people of old received their commendation.  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. . . .  (6)  And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him.    (highlight with both bold and italics, mine, not Bible).

Hebrews 11:30-31     It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.    It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God.  For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

 

I know there are some people who just have had enormous amounts of faith since childhood.  I wish I had that.  I wish I had the history of meeting Jesus as a child, KNOWING He loved me, and had granted me this undeserved gift.

Sadly, that was not the church I grew up in, and there were some scary things presented I have come to disagree and find fault with, and am thrilled I found faith filled, biblical churches to come to know Him.  Thank You for leading me to these churches.   Knowing more about the Pharisees and the Sadducees and how they viewed legalism, I tend to think my childhood church had more that kind of mentality.   I remember as a 6-year-old, telling my friend that she needed to leave her church and come to mine as my understanding was it was the “one true…”  

I was not exposed to another church, but something about the one I was attending made me uncomfortable and chose to leave the one we attended when I was 16.  I had a desire for something—just I didn’t know what.  But I occasionally started looking.  It was not a regular attendance, I tried different churches if I had a friend who would go in with me, or attended one and asked me to join in attendance.

Finally, I found a church that preached the Bible and then taught the message.  It was so rewarding and satisfying—this is what I was seeking during my searching time.  I wanted to learn more—this was different than some of what I had been taught over the years.  There was some fear that had been taught, and although the mural on the ceiling of the church had a kind looking Jesus gazing down at the congregants, and as a child I did think that was what God was like.  But that faded as the priests and nuns taught, and fear began to creep into many of us young children.   

The idea of a kind and loving Jesus looking down on us and caring about our lives was fading.  Religious classes were tense sessions, and I hoped I was never noticed, even though I knew the answers to the questions.   

Once I found what I was seeking, a pastor who taught from the Bible, not anything additional like man-made laws and things that were not within the pages that contained only God’s Word.  When I had to move and change churches, I now knew what I was looking for in a church and preacher.  I sucked up the teaching in church, in bible studies, and hanging with friends who shared more.

Oswald Chambers said, “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”    This is what I wanted—a confidence in who God is and was.

‘Faith enables us to withstand what we can’t understand.’ Pg 85, Marquee Messages: Sentence Sermons for the Church Sign by Shirley Jones Garmon, Pathway Press, Cleveland, TN, 37311, published 2000

‘Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.’ Pg 86,  Marquee Messages: Sentence Sermons for the Church Sign by Shirley Jones Garmon, Pathway Press, Cleveland, TN, 37311, published 2000

Faith is believing when you cannot see, “glance at your circumstances, but LOOK at Jesus.”

“Think about it: if you had everything figured out, you wouldn’t need faith.  You could live simply by your understanding.  By your logic, but not by faith.  But when you don’t understand something, that gives you the unique opportunity to deepen your faith.”   Hope in the Dark by Craig Groeschel,  2004, Devotional from Bible App

For me it has taken time to build my faith, to develop my trust totally in God, to KNOW He has my best interests planned.  I may mess them up for a while, but He wants my best.  I tested, I read the Bible and kept asking for His direction in my life.  When I did not ask for direction and made a major decision without consulting Him, I would be full of regret and uncertainty, yet most often would continue on that path, more embarrassed about how to change path and having “people” judge me.   It was ten years since I did that the last time.  And I regret that decision, but He has also turned it into goodness for me.  

Faith, for me, fully developed over time and circumstances, knowing His word–yet still finding something that strikes me as NEW when I need it.  I know that is because His Word is alive and gives each of us who believe just the Word we need, when we need it.   You were patient as I tested if I could always count on You; as I struggled, You remained constant, encouraging, and slowly my trust grew.  As much as I wanted to dive closer, I have never been a diver, or even much of a swimmer.  But I know You are for me, You love me, and You have a good plan for me.  Blessedly, my trust has grown, because You proved over and over.  You are steadfast and loving and thankfully, my faith has grown.  

Lord, thank You.  You have richly and abundantly blessed me and ‘mybellaviews.’