Isaiah 26:12 "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."
Hello Friends,
Here is another blog for your encouragement. In this one, we will talk about Faith and Doubt. Doubt and fear are big weapons of the enemy that he uses to discourage us and keep us from being effective and who we are meant to be. In these moments of doubt and fear, God calls us to look to him and trust him. We are called to live by faith and not by sight. Over and over again the bible tells us not to be afraid and have faith. That can be hard. Let us look into the scriptures and learn some neat stuff that hopefully will help you in your battles.
We will begin with a bible hero who had doubts; doubts about Jesus even though he came preparing the way for Jesus. There were doubts from John the Baptist!
To give some context to this, at this point, John's time of ministry was about if not completely finished and John was serving time in prison. So, he was dealing with discouragement which can lead to doubt.
Luke 7:18-28 "John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' " At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
Pretty interesting huh? John struggled with doubt in this time, being in prison and all. Jesus put the doubt in its place but he also lifted him up too and still spoke well of John.
So know that this great bible hero had wrestled with doubt, so you are not alone.
Next we will discuss at another moment of doubt. Now, I don't want to focus too much on the doubts as the goal of this blog is to build people up and show that we can move past these doubts and be courageous.
This example also happened during the ministry of Jesus and this time it was by one of his own disciples. Keep in mind this happened right after Jesus fed the crowd of 5000+ people.
Matthew 14:22-33 "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear, But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, "Truly you are the Son of God."
So, a pretty big thing going on and you have to hand it to Peter for having the faith to leap overboard and walk to Jesus. He just lost focus and doubt crept in and the fear of what was going on with the wind and he started to sink. So, Peter, even though he made a huge impact for Christ, he had his moments of doubt.
Now, let's take a look at the faith aspect!
For our first stop, we will return to Luke 7, which is pretty interesting. First see you seen an example of faith that we are about to read about; then later in the chapter is where we read about John dealing with doubt. Interesting for sure!
Luke 7:1-10 "When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well."
So here is an instance where Jesus is astounded by such an act of faith by this centurion. Jesus healed the servant as the centurion believed he could.
Let us take a look of another example of faith that Jesus commended:
Luke 18:35-43 "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who led the way rebuked and told him to be quite, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and ordered the man be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God."
So this man had faith in Jesus and believed he could heal and Jesus did. It took faith from this blind man. If you read about a lot of the other times Jesus healed someone, he commended their faith. The faith these people had to believe Jesus could heal them was important.
Let's see more neat scripture on faith:
This next one, is about the faith of a major character of the bible:
Hebrews 11:8-19 "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age---and Sarah herself was barren---was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country---a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."
Abraham showed great faith; he faltered at times, but kept up the faith ultimately and is credited as righteous. Take a read at what a passage in Romans says:
Romans 4:18-22 "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead---since he was about a hundred years old---and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." "
So, pretty neat stuff!
Another good verse to check out is in Hebrews:
Hebrews 11:32-34 "And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies."
So any way, I am hoping you will be encouraged. We all struggle with doubt and fear from time to time, but the great news is we can overcome. Some of the great bible heroes accomplished big things despite their moments of struggle. We can accomplish big things too!
I am going to leave you with some more encouraging verses as well lyrics to two really great songs I would recommend you check out!
Hebrews 10:35-36 "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight."
Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
"But I hear truth remind me/You are right behind me/Go ahead and break the mold/I'm gonna be bold/Gotta hold my head up/Cause I know when I get up/There's a victory I already hold/I'm gonna be strong/Gotta get my banner/Cause I know whose side I'm on/Got a heart like steel, a faith like gold/I'm gonna be bold." ~Ledger "Bold"
"Today is ours, it's always been/Before we face the fight/We know who's gonna win/We live by faith and not by sight/We don't want safe and quite/We don't want to run and hide/This is not an intermission/It's our time, not gonna miss it/You've already called us fearless/Unafraid/If we're going to fly, we fly like eagles/Arms out wide/If we're going fear, we fear no evil/We will rise/By your power, we will go/By your spirit, we are bold/If we're gonna stand, we stand as giants/If we're going to walk, we walk as lions/ We walk as lions." ~Skillet "Lions"
