Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Doubt”
Our Bible verse for today: “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Doubt is the opposite of faith.”
When we have doubts it simply means that we don’t have enough information about something, or enough experience with it, to be convinced it is true. Doubt leaves us uncertain and undecided, and it causes us to hesitate or even to do nothing at all.
Doubt is something we all struggle with at many times, in many ways, and about many things. It can be about small and relatively unimportant things, such as if today’s weather report is accurate or not, or it can be about big and important issues, such as whether or not there really is a God or whether the claims of the Bible can be trusted.
Doubt is the opposite of faith. If you doubt someone or something then your faith in that person or thing is weak or nonexistent. Doubt also bothers us. Doubt begs for resolution and therefore we find ourselves restless, mildly agitated (or perhaps not so mildly), and we’re not able to see a clear way forward.
Doubt can sometimes be a good thing. It can cause us to be cautious rather than impulsive and it can move us to use our brains as we dig deeper, do research, ask questions, and strive to discover what is really true about a person or thing.
But doubt can also hamper us, much as it did to the Apostle Peter in Matthew chapter 14. In that scene Peter was in a boat with the other disciples on the Sea of Galilee and they were caught in a storm. Suddenly, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the night, Jesus came walking towards them on the water. Peter called out and asked Jesus to empower him to walk on the water too. Jesus agreed and encouraged Peter to get out of the boat. He did and for a moment, while he kept his eyes on Jesus and trusted in the power of Jesus, Peter was fine and he walked on the water too. But then doubt set it. He took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the storm instead. His faith then faltered, his doubts and fears took over, and he began to sink.
That’s the story of my life. More doubt than faith!
All this month we will apply ourselves to gaining a better understanding of this issue of doubt. We’ll consider what doubt is, why it’s a problem, what we can do about it, and also how it can help us in positive ways. We’ll also consider many of our most common doubts and fears and we will expose them for the phantoms God says they are. I look forward to exploring this subject with you.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 