God’s Help When You Struggle to Believe
Why Do We Doubt?
If we were to be completely honest with ourselves, we could admit that the root cause of doubt or unbelief is that we surrender our allegiance to the wrong person or thing. People who identify as unbelievers or have turned away from their prior faith often do so because of unconfessed sin, which causes them to feel guilty when attending church or being in the company of believers. They are reluctant to pray or read the Bible because of the wrong choices they made. In other words, simple rebellion—the oldest reason for holding on to sin—is the culprit. Rebellion caused one-third of the heavenly host to fall from Heaven and away from God’s presence. Doubting the existence of God is a choice. Our choice keeps us apart from God’s presence. And because we live apart from His presence, we cannot exhibit the fruit of His Spirit, which allows others to “know us by our fruit.” The demonstrable fruit displayed by believers is named in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” We don’t have the ability to manifest these characteristics because they can only come from the Spirit of God. We’re left with our human capabilities, which are limited and conditioned by current and past mistakes. Many of us fall victim to past hurts inflicted during childhood, many of which are unforgiven and not forgotten. These hurts keep us stuck in a place that can affect major decisions and hinder our confidence in the people or situations we must consider. We unknowingly allow our past to dictate our future. How can we unravel the chains that keep us in bondage? In the Gospel of Matthew 21:19-22, Jesus gave His disciples a practical lesson on the importance of faith in action involving a fig tree growing along the path they walked. “He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly?’ Then Jesus told them, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, “May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Let’s not be mistaken by this truth. Doubt is a natural human condition. Faith is not the absence of doubt; it is believing in the unobservable despite the possibility of doubt. Faith is a choice.
Scriptures used in this module:
Romans 10:8-10 (ESV) Proverbs 29:25 (NIV)
John 14:6 (NIV) Psalm 143:8 (NIV)
Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) James 1:2-4 (NIV)
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) Psalm 56:3-4 (BSB)
John 20:29 (NIV) 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NLT)
Isaiah 43:2 (NIV) Psalm 91:3-7 (NLT)
1 Peter 1:6-7 (BSB) John 12:48 (ESV)
Psalm 91:9-14 (NIV) Jude 1:20-22 (ESV)
John 1:12 (ESV) Matthew 7:21 (NIV)
Psalm 9:9-10 (NASB) Deuteronomy 31:6-8 (ESV)
James 5:14-15 (NASB) John 3:36 (NIV)
1 John 5:14-15 (NASB) Psalm 32:7-8 (ESV)
Isaiah 12:2 (NIV) 1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV)
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV) Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)
Mark 11:24 (BSB) 1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NASB) Psalm 145:18 (ESV)
Isaiah 41:10 (ESV) Isaiah 66:2 (ESV)
John 3:18-19 (NIV) Nahum 1:7 (NIV)
Psalm 118:8 (ESV) Jeremiah 29:11-13 (ESV)
Romans 5:3-5 (ESV) 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
