Doubts affect all of us. They are a part of life and we should be honest about them because the Bible certainly is. No story demonstrates this better than that of John the Baptist. John’s whole life was about preparing the way for Jesus. Everything he said and did was for this cause.
Imagine then the enormity of this event in Matthew three. Jesus had approached John to be baptised and John was so overwhelmed by this request he refused. After Jesus had convinced him to do so, verses 16-17 say, ‘…and after being baptised, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him, and behold a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”‘ (NASV).
The implications and significance of this baptism were monumental. You could say John’s life was lived for that moment. Think about what had happened: One, he had just baptised the Son of God. Two, he had seen physical representation of the Holy Spirit. Three, to top it off he had just heard the audible voice of God!
I dare say after that John didn’t have a single doubt in his mind about who Jesus was. But as convincing as that event must have been, a few chapters later we read this, ‘Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, “Are you the Expected One, or shall we look for some one else?”‘ (Matthew 11:2-3)
How could this happen! One of the ‘greatest’, the guy who personally baptised Jesus and heard the audible voice of God now questions it all. If that could happen to someone as great as John the Baptist, then we can expect it to happen to us too. The Gospels didn’t hide the truth about John’s doubts, so either should we. It’s OK to have questions.
Why do we have doubts and questions? I believe it’s because of this underlying idea – we question what we don’t understand. John was hearing all about the amazing things Jesus was doing, the miracles, the thousands of people, the action, the excitement, and here he was rotting in a prison. Put yourself in his position. I can imagine John thinking, ‘I’m God’s messenger. I prepared the way for Him. The Messiah is here and I’m locked in this stinking prison! What is going on?’
It’s our lack of understanding that causes doubt, questions, and mental anguish. Jesus said He would never leave me or forsake me. Then why do I feel alone? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why did my Dad get cancer? Why did He let that child die?
The idea we have that says, ‘Until I understand it I won’t trust it or have faith in it’ seems to be only applied to God and His ways. We don’t apply this way of thinking to other areas of life. For example: I don’t understand how our telecommunication system works with all the satellites, computers, software and all that. But if I ring your number I believe I’ll hear your voice in my receiver. If I don’t get through I don’t lose faith in telephones, because I trust there must be some good reason for it. I don’t understand all the nutritional value of a carrot but that doesn’t stop me from eating it.
The following quote is from the book Case For Faith by Lee Strobel regarding the famed evangelist Billy Graham: ‘Graham searched the scriptures for answers, he prayed, he pondered. Finally, in a heavy-hearted walk in the moonlit San Bemardino Mountains, everything came to a climax. Gripping a Bible Graham dropped to his knees and confessed he couldn’t answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions that Templeton (a sceptic) and others were raising. “I was trying to be on the level with God, but something remained unspoken,” he wrote. “At last the Holy Spirit freed me to say it. “Father I am going to accept this as Thy Word – by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.” Rising from his knees, tears in his eyes, Graham said he sensed the power of God as he hadn’t felt it for months. “Not all my questions were answered, but a major bridge had been crossed”‘.
Don’t pretend doubts and questions don’t exist. Everyone experiences them, even the big guns like John the Baptist and Billy Graham. The key is to keep going, trust, and let faith reach beyond understanding. Many of the answers are along the way. If you don’t get them in this life, be assured they are on the other side. God never promised to explain everything. And if He did we probably wouldn’t understand anyway. There are some things we have to wait for until heaven.
You don’t have to have it all together or understand everything to continue your walk of faith or to trust God. It’s natural for understanding to lag behind faith. Looking back on my life, I could say doubts have been a reality check on my faith. The questions I have asked have inspired me to seek the truth. And those who seek will eventually find (Matthew 7:7). Doubts and questions, rather than weaken my faith, have probably made it stronger!