Faith with Doubt

Does doubting mean I'm not really a Christian?

Thomas spent three years with Jesus and still would not believe until he saw the wounds. The sermon calls him normal, not faithless, and points out that the eleven disciples worshiped and doubted in the same breath on the mountain.

The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” After eight days, again his disciples were inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

John 20:25–29

But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted.

Matthew 28:16–17

Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

How do I bring a real question to God without it sounding like unbelief?

John the Baptist sent two of his followers to ask Jesus outright whether he was the one, and Jesus answered with what he was doing rather than with a rebuke. Moses asked how God could possibly feed six hundred thousand people, and God answered with his own arm.

Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

Matthew 11:2–6

Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

Numbers 11:21–23

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.

James 1:5–6

My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

Psalms 22:2

Why does God feel silent when I need him most?

David wrote a psalm of total confidence in God and another psalm of total desolation, and both are in the Bible side by side. The sermon says you can wake up in one and go to bed in the other, and God has not changed in between.

My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

Psalms 22:2–3

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalms 23:4

How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

Psalms 13:1–2

Can I trust Jesus with the questions I can't answer?

The sermon says faith is thinking highly enough of Jesus to trust him with your life, your family, your finances, and your questions, and that he is not obliged to answer every one. The man in Mark got his child healed while still carrying his unbelief.

Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6–8

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5–6

Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Matthew 28:18–20

Is it okay to be gentle with someone who is doubting?

Jude, who grew up in the same house as Jesus and did not believe in him until after the resurrection, wrote one line about doubters: be merciful to them. He knew from the inside what it was to be the one who had not yet come around.

On some have compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

Jude 1:22–23

For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

John 7:5

Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

Matthew 11:4–6