June 23

“Doubts are a ‘speaking against God’ and are consequently sin.  They are not an infliction, but a rebellion.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 6/23

I’ve always cringed when I’ve heard a Christian express their doubts about God and then say they believe it’s a natural part of being a Christian.  I would always be horrified when they acted as though they had no control over their doubt, and I felt embarrassed for them because it seemed so irreverent.  I’m glad to see that Hannah agrees with me!  But I can’t rejoice for too long because the Holy Spirit is convicting me of my own form of doubt---discontent.  After all, to not live what you say you believe has to be because of doubt.  I might say I’m lazy or impatient by way of explanation for my discontent, but if I’m honest I’d have to say doubt is behind it.  The truth is, if we are hungry, we eat.  We don’t question whether the feeling of hunger is real or not.  It’s the same when things don’t go the way we had hoped.  If we are disappointed, we are betraying what we believed all along--that God has to agree that what WE want is good for us.  When we don’t get it, we question God’s character by being discontented--and that is doubt.  Let us not be hypocrites and claim that we have no doubt then turn around and complain.  Let us instead call upon the Lord in our weakness and ask for His help.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.”  James 1:5-8