Dan wanted to believe in God and embrace his Son Jesus Christ. He admired his friends and family members who had done so, for the confidence, good character, and positive outlook they exhibited. Dan wanted to join them in their confidence. He wanted to mature in his own good character. Yet every time Dan thought about the specifics of faith, doubt rushed in. It was as if the moment Dan had a faithful thought, an unfaithful voice declared its opposite. The voice of doubt grew so loud and insistent at times that Dan wondered about its source. He also wondered about its veracity and trustworthiness. Faith seemed so simple, sound, and direct, while doubt seemed so complex, unsound, and nefarious. Dan wanted to get over his doubt but just couldn’t seem to do so.
Definition
Doubt is, in a way, the opposite of faith. Faith is to take as assured, the good things for which one does not yet have evidence. Faith says that things will be better soon, if not today then tomorrow. Faith says that good remains possible even in the event and face of evil, indeed that good prevails over evil. Doubt takes the opposite approach. Doubt declares that the truths that seem sound, reasonable, and assured are instead unsound, unreasonable, and uncertain. To doubt is to disbelieve in the assurance of good and instead to expect not just the occurrence but also the prevailing of evil. Doubt says not to trust in good but to believe in confusion. Doubt says truth does not exist and that instead everything is subjective and uncertain. Doubt even questions whether the cosmos contains any meaning and life has any purpose.
Author
While God is the author of life, the embodiment of love, and in Christ the incarnation of truth, the adversary, opposer, and deceiver whom we call Satan is the author, promoter, and beneficiary of doubt. Satan opposes everything that is good, instead seeking evil and destruction. One could say that doubt simply exists within the mind as a failure in proof or sound reason. Yet patterns, powers, and principalities of doubt also dwell outside of us, accumulating in their influence. The lies and deceptions of one become the lies and deceptions of many, distorting the culture, sowing doubt, and undermining reason. Deceiving memes spring up and spread like wildfire, taking on lives of their own, feeding on the collective mind until they have grown into monstrous demons. A small lie becomes a big lie, deceiving and confusing until no one trusts anything. Do not ignore the awful adversary who hides behind doubt as its author, fuel, and beneficiary.
Prevalence
Doubt poisons the world, which not only tolerates but also promotes and venerates it. The adversary and deceiver is the fallen world’s prince, tragically heralded as its savior. The world welcomes its own demise, embracing it in the deconstruction of truth, the abandonment of its hard-won traditions, and the rejection of its essential order, hierarchy, and values. Doubt undermines everything, first truth, then tradition, then order, and then values. The mind of the non-believer is the adversary’s playground. The non-believer’s voice is the adversary’s song, and the non-believer’s hands are the adversary’s tools. Doubt lives large in the world. Don’t ignore it nor minimize its purpose and impact. Instead, recognize its existence and prevalence, and its intent to undermine truth and destroy truth’s bounty.
Effect
Doubt has a deleterious effect not only on faith but also on the doubter. The New Testament letter James, attributed to Christ’s half brother, shows the one who doubts to be like a wave tossed on the seas. The doubter has two minds, not one, and is accordingly unstable. Doubt isn’t pure non-belief. The complete non-believer has no doubts of anything. The pure non-believer is as sure of the non-belief as the believer is of the truth. Doubt instead pits belief against non-belief. The doubter has no convictions, whether conviction to the truth or to falsehood. Having two minds about whatever the doubter does leaves no trustworthy pattern to the doubter’s actions. A divided mind also divides the heart and soul. Doubt thus undermines not only the doubter’s mind but also the doubter’s life, character, and relationships. God cannot reward the doubter, whose inconsistent beliefs lead to contradictory actions. Beware the bad effects of doubt.
Antidote
Faith is the antidote to doubt. Faith isn’t a foolish and unreasonable belief in things that do not exist. Faith is instead a firm trust in sound but hidden things repeatedly shown and long and widely believed to exist. One doesn’t doubt the rising of tomorrow’s sun and accordingly abandon all plans for tomorrow. To do so would not be reasonable doubt but unreasonable foolishness. Why, then, should one doubt the existence of God, who daily demonstrates the goodness of his creation with every rising sun? Instead of doubting, plan for the day with the confidence and boldness of a believer in the providence of God’s creation. Show a little faith in God rather than doubt his existence. And if faith is the antidote to doubt, then faith in Jesus Christ is doubt’s permanent cure. Just as creation daily shouts God’s praise for his bountiful goodness, Christ’s ministry of the cross, capped in his resurrection, shouts God’s praise for the act of his loving redemption. Embrace God, and you’ll live with less doubt. Embrace Jesus Christ, and you will banish doubt. Belief in the obvious pushes doubt away. Belief in the miraculous destroys doubt forever.
Approach
You have sound ways to approach and address your doubt. First, clarify what it is that you’re doubting. You may just be asking the wrong question or thinking of the issue in the wrong way. You may need to look a little more deeply at the question to realize that you’ve framed the issue incorrectly. If, in looking at your doubt, you realize that your question assumes things that you know not to be true, then reject and reframe the question. Don’t let a poorly framed question undermine things that you know to be true. That’s the unfortunate way that doubt works, which is to start with a bad question that leads to worse answers you should know to be false. Instead, firmly and promptly rid yourself of the doubt that truth in which you already believe has flatly contradicted. To rid yourself of doubt, listen for the voice of doubt, and promptly reject the voice, especially when you know that you believe in the truth that already contradicts it.
Questions
Nothing of the above is to say that you should ignore your sound questions. Anyone can have legitimate questions about faith. When you have faith questions, the New Testament letter James gives the sound approach of asking God to supply you with answers. But the same passage warns that if you have questions, you must ask those questions in faith, believing that sound answers exist. The New Testament gives several examples of the religious leaders questioning Jesus not in faith, looking for his reliable answers, but instead to catch Jesus in false contradictions. Jesus refused to answer trick questions in the way those questioners intended. God knows your heart even as you ask questions. He supplies answers only to genuine questions posed in good faith. Examine and bolster your faith, including through sound questions. Seek sound answers to your questions. But always seek answers in good faith rather than critically, hoping to undermine the truth that you receive.
Reflection
Examine the questions you have about faith. Are you asking those questions hoping for sound answers or instead hoping to undermine faith? Do your questions already contradict things you know to be true? If so, can you reframe your questions so that they do not contradict truths you already hold and instead reflect genuine curiosity and interest? What current accounts do you see in the world that seem plainly constructed to inject doubt into the minds of as many as possible? Are you generally on guard against doubt, when listening to the world’s accounts of itself? Can you think of grand deceptions in the past, sowing doubt and division, that have recently come to light for correction? Can you recall an instance when you accepted a lie that undermined your confidence in the truth, only to discover and regret it later? Do you hold up your faith in Jesus Christ as an arbiter of truth and cure for doubt and deception?
Key Points
Doubt injects uncertainty into truths that one should know better.
The deceiver and adversary sows doubt to undermine faith.
Deception and doubt is everywhere in the world, opposing truth.
Doubt not only divides the mind but also the character and actions.
Faith is the antidote to doubt, trusting in the truth of Jesus Christ.
Rid yourself of doubt by testing the question against the truth.
Ask questions in good faith, not to undermine truth but for answers.