Is there any room for doubt?
On Sunday evening, Chris and I sat down to talk about the day. He often likes to hear my thoughts on the service and, specifically, his message. He taught on James 1 about overcoming adversity. I loved the message, but told him that I wish time had allowed him to give more context to verse 6 because it always causes me to struggle.James 1:5-8 reads (I’ve put verse 6 in bold):
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
I explained to Chris that whenever I come to this part of the passage, I always get discouraged. What does it mean when James says “no doubting”? Honestly, when I read that verse and there’s a place where I don’t see the wisdom I’m asking for, I assume it must be because I have doubt. I don’t really have enough faith. I must be double-minded.The more we talked, the more I realized that, despite what I know in my mind to be true about the grace and mercy of God, I had allowed myself to be deceived. As I heard myself voice my questions, I realized how off they were. “How much faith do I have to have to receive wisdom? Is He expecting perfect faith?” Seriously, how ridiculous! I’d never asked that question out loud before… but the minute I did, the cloud of discouragement disappeared.When I step back and think about the character of God and what the overwhelming evidence is from Scripture, it’s very obvious that I was allowing that score-keeping, performance-based grid that I use for myself to color a God who’s nothing like that. You would think verse 5 would be enough. After all, James says that God “gives generously to all without reproach.” Without pulling out a commentary or needing a pastor to explain it (although I often enjoy that perk), I realized that I had to ignore a lot of truth to allow myself to be discouraged when reading about doubt.
• A mustard seed of faith is enough. (Matthew 17:20)• Our God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6)• God handled Thomas’s doubting by showing up to him after the resurrection and exposing His nail-pierced hands for evidence to this follower who doubted.(John 20:26-29)
If still in doubt (no pun intended) after all these examples, I should remember that our earthly parent/child relationship is a picture of God’s heart toward us. I’m quick to bless any evidence of faithfulness in my children. I don’t wait until they’re behaving perfectly or listening to 100% of what I say before I give them wisdom. I’ll share more wisdom than they ever want… if they just ask.As I walked away from my conversation with Chris, I was reminded of two things:
1. My God is for me. He wants me to have faith, not keep it from me.2. Community is important. We need to be able to talk out our questions. Just saying them out loud was enough to realize I wasn’t thinking right.
So, I throw it to you…
1. Where have you allowed yourself to believe a lie that God is anything less than for you?2. Would you be willing to have an honest conversation with another trusted believer this week?