“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” Luke 24:38
Doubt gripped the disciples when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection. They had waited in faith and obedience for his return, just as Jesus had told them to; yet, the moment he made his promise good, they questioned who he was. Jesus showed them his scared hands and feet for proof; and then dared them, “touch me and see”—the coup de gras, similar to a double-dog-dare. The faithful disciples who had seen signs and wonders, and the dead raised, now doubted the one they had confessed as Savior. But, they soon became doubtless; and then, they were empowered by the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and lead 3,000 people to faith in Christ—in one morning! It seems the disciples doubted the Lord, just before they became great in the Lord.
In a crisis of doubt, the disciples’ faith had not died, and Christ did not throw them in the trash heap for having doubt. Instead of rejection, He encouraged them and empowered them to do more. In turn, they their faith was strengthened. For you to have doubts is nothing more than being a human, and a follower of Christ is, after all, a human. Once we doubt, then question, we can learn. Along with the Bible and the Spirit of God to teach us, we have fellow believers to encourage us, and even objections to our faith can strengthen us. Doubt leads to finding answers, and I’m confident that a Christ follower will indeed grow stronger in Christ when being open enough to embrace not only doubts, but the Truth that reigns over doubt. Do you have doubts in the Lord right now, maybe thinking you’ve lost faith in Christ? Jesus won’t throw you away, but he will encourage you and strengthen you. Like the disciples, you may have doubts, but it may be in a time just before you are empowered and become great in the Lord.
Doubting, nonetheless, in Christ,
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