If you’ve been a Christian longer than five minutes you have dealt with doubt–doubts about your relationship with God, doubts about difficult theologies, doubts about God’s word, doubts because of pain or sorrow or suffering. And when we experience doubts it leaves us feeling lost, fragile, anxious, and even angry. So we should be deeply thankful for the pictures the Bible gives us to show us how Jesus responds when we doubt.
Think of Thomas in John 20. He declares his doubt; he cannot believe in the resurrection unless He sees the wounds in Jesus’s hands and side. When Jesus next appears He does two things: first He shows Thomas the wounds while calling Him to faith, then He corrects Thomas. “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). He will not let Thomas stay in unbelief. Jesus does what Thomas needs and calls him to better and greater faith.
Consider Peter. He denied Jesus three times, and after rising from the dead how did Jesus respond? John 21 tells us how asks three times “do you love me?” Each time Peter responds that he does, and each time Jesus commissions Peter to care for the flock of believers. Jesus draws a confession of faith from Peter. In the end, Peter is defined by love for Jesus and belief, not by denial and doubt.
When we bring our doubts to Jesus He responds the same way for us. He does not condemn or crush. Neither does he let us stay in our doubts. He meets our needs and adjusts our trajectory. When we bring our doubts to Jesus he speaks welcome, he speaks truth into our confusion, and he speaks correction that will change who we are and how we believe.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
