Doubt and Unbelief.
Last time, we discussed the process of doubt and how it is a question asking to be answered. In scripture, we see some people who doubted. Some of them were Abraham and Sarah, Peter walking on the water towards Jesus, the disciples doubting even after seeing Jesus alive after the resurrection, and John the Baptist.
We look at these people and think we are better. We must guard our hearts and our minds against the attacks from the enemy. He has been at this for a long time, and he likes it best if he can sow a seed of doubt and let it fester. Because he knows seed produces a harvest.
We must deal with doubt in our lives because it can lead us to a place of unbelief. The question remains to be asked. How do I know if I am only in a position of doubt or if I am in a place of unbelief?
People who walk in doubt question things about their faith. Some things need to be clarified, or they need help understanding and are eager to learn more and gain greater clarity. Someone who is in unbelief has determined not to believe. They do not question faith; they question God.
Doubt is a struggle every believer will face. There is no single believer who has not been in a place of doubt. Doubt doesn't mean you are unsaved. Unbelieving is not a struggle. It is the posture of someone's heart.
Someone in doubt is asking for more proof. Unbelievers refuse to believe despite all the evidence.
Doubt is honest. You want to know the truth. Unbelief is stubborn. They resist the truth.
People in doubt seek the light, greater revelation, and better clarity. People in unbelief are content with darkness.
Doubt can happen because of brokenness, a troubled mind, or disappointment. Unbelief is an act of your will.
Doubt can happen because something happened outside of your control. Something happened that you did not expect. Unbelief uses things that happen to justify their unbelief.
In scripture, Jesus always helped the people who struggled with doubt. When Jesus ran into unbelief, he rebuked it.
People with doubt love the community. They can ask questions and exchange ideas and understanding. Unbelievers love isolation.
Doubt will push you towards God. Unbelief pulls you away from God.
Unbelief is a much bigger problem than doubt. The writer of Hebrews warns us with a stern warning.
Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
When Paul persecuted the Church, he was not doing it out of doubt about them. He was not looking for the truth. He was fighting them, opposing them, wanting to destroy the believers. He did it because he was living in unbelief. He tells us himself that he was in unbelief.
1 Tim 1:13 Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
Thank God that He can save even those who are walking in unbelief. This gives me great hope. God can turn the hardest hearts around and bring them to a place of salvation and truth.
Be encouraged. There is hope for all of us. God is never intimidated when we ask questions. He is the answer to all the questions we might have.