Why doubt? Part 1
Matthew 14:31 “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of Peter, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Extra Reading: Matthew 14: 1-31
If Peter did not doubt, he could have walked on water just like Jesus. But doubt gripped his heart and he failed. Many of us are victims of doubt. We know that doubt rules our hearts at times. I really don’t know why today doubting is far more acceptable than claiming that we can know anything for certain. People are suspicious of certainty. Why? I really do not know. When I grew up my uncle, Frans, used to play a game of chance called “Motshaena”. He would bet for 20 cents up to one rand. The day he doubted he will lose all his money it happens. But the day he wakes up with certainty in his heart that he is going to win, he will come back home with a smile on his face. Doubt is to take two positions on something or to have a divided heart. People in a modern world view certainty as clearly dangerous; we often hear someone say, “Those overconfident people make my life a misery.” To avoid disappointment people think to be sure, it’s safer to doubt!
Those who believe much in philosophy embrace a systematic doubt to discern those facts which could be stated with absolute certainty from world-views and religions of their day. They doubt everything and ruthlessly reject every assumed truth. By the end of the process their only remaining certainty is the fact of their doubt. When we speak of doubt and certainty in the same breath we generally assume that certainty is the opposite of doubt. Let me tell you this, certainty is not the opposite of doubt. As a young athlete at primary school, I used to doubt my ability to win the 100 metre race. But my coach assisted me by reassuring me that I am good and I will win every race I compete in. Once I started believing what my coach says, I started winning one race after the other. All doubt was gone! God’s Word states, “And have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 22). You have God as your superior coach. Please trust Him unconditionally today. Your heart will be filled with inner peace and you will have a sense of great satisfaction. Os Guinness once said, “Doubt is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief, so that it is neither of them wholly and it is only each partly.” That is so true! We need to rid ourselves of doubt.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we battle with doubt in our lives. Please help us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
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