Faith And Doubt

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief."

Mark 9:24, A worried parent

"Doubt is powerful -- it can stop any number of good things in it's tracks...except the faith of a small child."

- Anonymous

When I was a little boy at the Quad City Church of God in Davenport, Iowa, I felt God gave me a calling to preach. At the time my little brother thought I just wanted to tell people what to do. (Smile).

He said, "You been bossin' me my whole life."

I said, "Yeah, and what good did it do - you're still messed up!" (Ha!)

But the truth is, I had stuff in my life that could've prevented me from doing what I believed God was calling me to do. You see, from a very early age, I've always had an acute sense of Doubt. I wondered about things like…

...So, if God created the whole world out of nothing, what was He doing before that?

...I mean, where did GOD come from? If God created everything, who created God?

...And if it's true that God is everywhere, throughout the entire Universe, all at the same time, how is it possible for that infinite God to squeeze all of Himself into the finite physical body of Jesus? Since the Apostle Paul said, "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in human form" (Colossians 2:9).

How is that possible? You ever wonder about things like that? Maybe there's other 'stuff' you wonder about when it comes to God, that creates doubt…

...Maybe you wonder how God feels about you...

...Maybe you wonder how God could forgive that thing you did...

...Maybe you wonder if God will show up and help you this time...

...Maybe you wonder if God will give you another chance...

One time, I had a Sunday school teacher who said, "God can't use you if you have doubts." So… guess what I did? I shelved God's call on my young life. I just had too many doubts, and I stopped going to church. Years went by… grade school, high school, college. At 22 years of age, frustrated with a life that was ruled by doubts and anxieties, I decided to put my faith in Jesus Christ. And, despite my doubts, I decided to believe He died on a cross to forgive my sins, and I invited Him into my life as the God of my life.

That summer, I was invited to share my story with Jesus in that little church in Davenport. After the service, my grandmother came up to me and whispered, "God is calling you to preach." "Grandma… I have too many doubts and questions to be a pastor," I replied. And she said, "Don't you dare let your little doubts keep you from God's big purpose for your life! Everybody has doubts," she said, "but doubts are not the Lord of your life… Jesus is!" And… that's why I'm a pastor today.

You have any doubts today that are keeping you from God's purpose for your life? Are you letting some sense of failure keep you from doing what God wants you to do? Do you have doubts about how God feels about you that's robbing you of His peace, His joy, His love? Well… STOP IT… and exercise the faith of a child and decide to believe that God's love for you is bigger than you ever imagined. It's more unconditional than you ever dreamed. It's more forgiving than you could ever hope it could be!

I didn't let doubt keep me from doing what God wanted me to do - neither should you! AMEN

Pastor Harry

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