Hi, this is Erin Michele, and welcome to steps to trusting. It is a goal here to meet you where you are in your faith journey. And  to encourage you to continue to take steps to trust in God more fully.  [00:00:18]    

Hi, and welcome to the show .Today we’re going to be talking about  the topic of doubt. We started scratching the surface of doubt and questions in our faith with our guest Faith Raider, last time on the show. If you haven’t yet listened to that show, I encourage you to go back and listen. I know you’ll be encouraged. [00:00:41]

So today I really just wanted to start with a question of what is doubt. The first thing that came to my mind  was questioning.

When I looked it up on dictionary.com. It said “a feeling of uncertainty or lack of  conviction.” [00:00:58]  

As I was thinking more and more about doubt, I came across the quote on my friend’s wall.  Her name is Emma Woodcock. And, I will put the links in where you can catch up with Emma, but  she will be on a future show. So look out for that.  This is what Emma says about doubt.

[00:01:16] Doubt is questioning something you already believe. Whereas belief is the refusal to believe. Doubt is a struggle, not a lack of faith.  It’s real necessary to grow and has no shame.”

[00:01:29] Emma’s a statement really made me think.  It got to the core of a struggle that i had in a time when i was questioning things in my faith.

[00:01:38] She makes a distinction here that there is a difference between doubts and unbelief. And as I consider that difference, it’s almost as if a doubt. Allows still for our curiosity, a seeking and a searching that could bring growth. However, unbelief it’s almost as if a choice of a door of saying, I won’t believe that. And doesn’t leave room  for learning and for growth.

[00:02:07] In Romans, Paul talks about unbelief as a choice. He says in Romans 11:23, if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in. This is in the context of talking about,  how God has pruned off branches and grafted people in and saying those that have been pruned off. If they don’t persist in unbelief, they will be grafted back in. 

[00:02:31]  When I was going through my period of struggle with doubt in my faith,  I didn’t understand the distinction  as Emma clearly presents it. I instead felt the shame. I did not feel like it was something necessary for me I didn’t understand how questions brought growth.  But I’ve realized if I didn’t first doubt the truth of what I was told, then I don’t think I would have took the time to seek out the answers.

[00:03:01]Now as I look back on that period of my life, I see the things that I know about God that I would not have known if I didn’t question who is God, if I did not question, why do I need Jesus? If I did not ask is God trustworthy?

[00:03:19] This is a big part of my testimony.  I grew up in the church and somehow, even though I loved it there and was super comfortable.  I look back on moments that I was afraid to ask questions. I was afraid that my doubts and questions would be seen as unbelief. I was afraid that people would look at me and wonder if I was really a Christian or wonder if I had faith at all.

[00:03:44]I didn’t understand that it could just be seen as seeking out deeper understanding of who God is. And that’s how I see it. Now. I see it. Now we have doubts and questions. It’s so good for us because it gives us the opportunity to seek out a deeper understanding of who God is.     

[00:04:04] There are  staples in my faith that I would not have to cling on to if I did not ask those questions.

[00:04:12] And so I want to encourage you guys to ask questions and I also want to encourage you to let your kids ask questions. And in fact, maybe you start asking them questions instead of fear, the questions that they may ask. Teach them how to look for the answers. And if you don’t know how to look for the answers, then find someone to show you.

[00:04:33] I’ve laid out more of this struggle of my faith on my blog.  if you want to check out that story, I encourage you to do so. I can put a link in the  show notes, but that would be found  at erinmichelle.net\God-is- faithful.

[00:04:52] As I walked through the struggle of doubt in my faith. One of the verses that I often looked at was in John 1:12, “but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

[00:05:12] This verse is so encouraging, but yet was such a challenge to me because I struggled with that word believed.  I believed, but I doubted and there are verses like  James 1:6 that says, “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.” I knew what it felt like to be driven and tossed by the wind. I knew what it felt like to have doubt, allow me to be tossed back and forth in my belief.

[00:05:50]And I think at that time, my focus was so much on how do I believe? How do I have the faith? How do I not doubt?  This was a big, long struggle of time for me. But it wasn’t until I realized that it wasn’t about me. It was about the character of God. And I was so greatly encouraged by second Timothy, 2:13, that verse says, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful for, he cannot deny himself.” That verse, it’s like a turning point in my faith. When I look at that and when I remember that whether I believe or not, that does not change the character of who God is.

[00:06:36] When I started to look at that character of God’s faithfulness, my faith grew. it grew because my faith was no longer in the question. Can I believe enough or have strong enough faith?

[00:06:50] it instead was in the answer to the question is God faithful?

[00:06:55]Ephesians 2:8-9,  tells us that we are not saved by our own works. Here’s the verse “for by grace, you have been saved through faith and it is not of your own doing it is a gift of God. Not a result of works so that no one may boast.”

[00:07:14] I read you this verse, because for me in that place where I put so much pressure on myself to believe. So much pressure for me to do the right thing, to not question it at all, to not have doubts. I was putting the weight on myself, like a work, like if I can believe good enough, if I can be good enough at this thing, then God will accept me. But these verses in Ephesians, remind us that it is a gift of God. 

[00:07:48] There’s another verse  Hebrews 12:2 that says, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame. And he says seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

[00:08:06]For me that verse was integral too, because it says right there that Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Faith is not something that I can work and be good enough at. Faith is something that relies on the Lord.    And so understanding this idea of our faith lies on God’s faithfulness was a game changer for me.

[00:08:32] And I hope that it is a game changer for you to think about the faithfulness of who God is. [00:08:40]

That then brings us to a different question.  How can we know if God is faithful? And I want to challenge you guys to look at where God has been faithful to you in your life. [00:08:52]  

Actually sometimes God’s faithfulness does not look as you would expect.  Sometimes his faithfulness looks like hard situations, I think allowing us to question, so our faith would be strengthened.  Sometimes his faithfulness is taking away something that we always thought we wanted because we were putting too much faith in that so that we would instead see our need for God. [00:09:21]  

I’m going to read you a passage from Nehemiah 9. And I want you to think about these people. I want you to think about what their actions show when they don’t obey or don’t follow after God. Think about if that  conveys doubt in who God is. But yet to look at the character of God who he shows himself to be in this passage.

[00:09:45] We’re going to read from Nehemiah nine, starting from the end of verse five. “Stand up, praise the Lord, your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed, be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise you alone are Lord, you made the heavens even the highest heavens and all their starry hosts the earth and all it is on it, the seas and all that is in them.  You give life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

[00:10:20] You are the Lord, God who chose Abraham and brought him out of Ur, of the Chaldeans and named him. Abraham, you found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Peizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous. You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt. You heard their cry at the red sea. You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh against all of his officials and all the people of his land for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. You have divided the sea before them so that they pass through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depth, like a stone into the mighty waters. By day you led them with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light, by the way they were to take. You came down on Mount Sinai. You spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that were just, and right.  and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your Holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrease and laws , through your servant, Moses. In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven in their thirst. You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hands to give them, but they our forefathers became arrogant and stiff necked and did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles that you performed among them.

[00:12:10] They became  stiff-necked and  in their rebellion, appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them. Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf.”

[00:12:34]This is an example. Of promises that God kept. God gave a promise to Abraham and God was faithful to carry that out each step of the way.

[00:12:44] And this passage shows us how he carried that out. There’s a lot summed up into these verses. There are years of waiting captivity and suffering, but God had not forgotten his people in the waiting It also shows us how people wavered in their faith, how they didn’t follow after him, like  they should, but he still kept those promises. It didn’t depend on them. But depended on who God was. And here we’re shown God’s faithfulness.

[00:13:18] God continues to be forgiving, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. As it says in verse 17, this is the character of who God is. Even when we doubt God is constant and faithful to his word.  Our doubts and questions do not change the truth of his character.

[00:13:43] Instead of focusing on our doubts, let’s seek to know more of who he is.

[00:13:49]If we were to look at the Bible as a whole, we would see many promises of God.

[00:13:55]Here are a couple of promises I want to share with you guys, Romans 10: 13, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Here’s another one from 1 John, 1:9. “If you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

[00:14:15] When I look at passages like Nehemiah nine, and I see the promise that God made to the people. And I see how he continued to faithfully walk out that promise, even though people turned away from him, I can with greater assurance, look at passages like Romans 10: 13, and 1 John 1:9 and say, yes, the character of my God is faithful.

[00:14:44] That if he promises whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, then that it will be true. If he says, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, then that too is an opportunity for us to follow because God is faithful.

[00:15:04] You guys, these words from these verses are just a glimpse of God’s faithfulness. They’re just a glimpse into the promises that he has for us.

[00:15:17]I want to continue to explore God’s faithfulness and then many other characteristics of who he is. Where have you seen his faithfulness? I want to leave you guys with a challenge to look at God’s faithfulness in our own lives. I would love to hear how this conversation and study affects you. You can hashtag steps to trusting on Instagram and share it with the listeners of this podcast, or reach out at steps to trusting on Instagram or Facebook.

[00:15:47] The promises found in the verses, I mentioned are just a glimpse of the character of who God is. They are just a glimpse into his faithfulness.

[00:15:57] I pray that God would grow our faith. As we look at his faithfulness.

[00:16:05]Let’s pray as we close.

[00:16:07]Dear God, I thank you that you are faithful.

[00:16:10] I thank you that your word shows your faithfulness, that it showed us your promises in the old Testament and how you kept them and how you are faithful to your people. Even though they turned from you and Lord that there is a new promise, a new covenant.

[00:16:25] Lord, I thank you that, that we can trust that you also are faithful to the promise that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)…

[00:16:35]and  your promise. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12), Lord, thank you. That you give us the right to be called children of God. Thank you. That you are faithful.

[00:16:50] Thank you father, that it’s not something that we have to muster up belief, but that we can look to you and your faithfulness. Lord, I pray that you would grow faith in our hearts, that you would help us to dive in more deeply to see the character of who you are to see how greatly we are loved and to see the promises that you offer to us in our life. Promises of being called your child, of being called close, of being redeemed.

[00:17:23] Lord God, grow this faith in us, shift our eyes from our faults and our deficiencies, or even believing that we are enough, Lord to see who you are, how greatly you love us. So what you have done for us and Lord, where we fall short of who you are. Thank you, Lord Jesus. It’s in Jesus name that I pray.

[00:17:49] Amen.

[00:17:50]Friends. Thank you so much for joining me today. As we consider ideas of doubt and look at scripture of God’s faithfulness. This is just a scratching of the surface.   I pray that you would continue to seek and to dig in, to see who is this God that we follow. Knowing the character of God, equips us to take step to trusting him.

[00:18:15] I’m going to put a bunch of links of verses in the show notes for today. Also, where you can  hear some  more of the details and the struggle that I went through with doubt.

[00:18:26]If you enjoyed the show, please like,  subscribe and share with a friend .  I would love to continue this conversation with you. Connect with me on Instagram. I would love to see your hashtags or talk to you about where you are in your faith and how God has shown himself faithful or where you are in the questions and questions that you would love to see covered on the show.

[00:18:50] Please reach out to me at steps to trusting on Instagram and Facebook.

[00:18:56] I’ll see you back here next time until then I want to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians two 10.

[00:19:01]We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we would walk in them. I pray that you are encouraged to keep on stepping.