The Power Of Doubt
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Mark 16
THE Bible is meditation literature. Through meditation the babe grows to trust the loving Father. Meditation teaches us to hear the subtle, whisper of God’s voice. For this reason, we must meditate (Ps 1). As the American mystic Howard Thurman teaches, “The true purpose of all spiritual disciplines is to clear away whatever may block our awareness of that which is God in us.” When we meditate, a fresh meaning washes the prideful presumptions away and slows our hurried readings with an understanding that humbles us, allow me to demonstrate.
Doubt is the disbelief of something that has been proven. Many debate that the Bible is nuanced, while others believe the Bible is binary (I believe it is considered nuanced because our minds are too feeble to understand its mystery). With this truth, we see examples of this binary tendency throughout Scripture. For example, Heaven or Hell; violence or peace; love or hate; holiness or sin; Angels or Demons; El Shaddai or Satan; and, our topic today, faith or doubt.
My title suggests that doubt isn’t dormant. It is alive and hunts with predatory instincts. Its goal? To stymie one’s progress from a sprint, to a jog, to a brisk walk, to a hesitant stagger, until, at last, it can redirect the entire course of one’s life in a doubtful stupor. Doubt is powerful. In Mark 16, we read of doubt’s boast as it reigns over people of faith. How so?
Doubt is alive and hunts with predatory instincts.
In order to magnify my point, we must remember that Christianity is a spiritual religion. Therefore, we are Spirits with bodies, not bodies that possess Spirits. Our makeup is spiritual, our God is a Holy Spirit, the Bible is a spiritual, living book. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “We don’t wrestle against flesh or blood (Eph 6).” In fact, Christians are engaged in warfare against Demons that influence evil behavior. Therefore doubt isn’t an emotion, it is an evil Spirit. The evil Spirit has one purpose—steal our faith and cause us to doubt. For it understands James’s teaching of faith, to our shame, better than we do. James teaches, “When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. (James 1).” Doubt dilutes the faith which moves the Hand that moves the world, faith that could raise the dead, faith that can save your soul. Who, in their right mind, would want to fight an opponent with that much power? In a sense, to be full of faith makes you omnipotent. With faith, we are unconquerable from within and without. So, instead of fighting us in full force we are surreptitiously stripped of our power (Do you see how clever our enemy is?).
But, beware! Doubt never works alone. He has an entourage. Ain’t the bully always tougher when he has a crowd? Fear, confusion, discouragement, worry, even rationalization surrounds doubt. The former is obvious, I shall only explain the latter. When we rationalize our lives, we strip ourselves of the opportunity to have faith. Why pray and seek God’s advice, when I can rationalize my future myself? This is a subtle form of deception. For, rationalization is a justifiable sense of distrust that pacifies our faith. In other words, logic asphyxiates faith. This may be why only 33 percent of scientists believe in God.
Rationalization is a justifiable sense of distrust that pacifies our faith.
I’ve painted a picture of doubt to bring us to a greater understanding of its power. In our verse above, understand Jesus did ministry for three years, and in those three years He shifted the course of human history. Even Zeus and Poseidon read of His inimitable, sacrificial life. For three years there were specific men and women who walked with Jesus— they were eyewitnesses (2 Pet 1). Yet Jesus is murdered, as He prophesied, and everyone doubts the prophecy and so many others. Throughout all the Gospels, this doubt is a consistent motif. Not one person awaited His resurrection from the dead with eagerness and faith. On the contrary, they went back to their previous vocations and questioned the meaning of life. You see, reader, meditation is conducive to our faith. I close with a thought from Howard Thurman, “A particular form of life is committed to a way of survival, a way of keeping alive. When this no longer operates, when the line of communication is broken and the organism is cut adrift, death is automatic.” We must grow our faith and persist in its maturation. Then, we shall know as we are known. I implore you to open your eyes and see what is to be seen.
“Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
