AMONG US: in our Doubts
Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
Introduction
Well several months ago (I can’t remember the exact timing of it), I was listening to Life 97.3, and they had a story on there about a lady that was sick. And she was sharing how she was wrestling and doubting God because she couldn’t experience God in that moment. I can’t remember if it was cancer or what was wrong with her, but she just said she felt so distant from God, and she just doubted in her faith and everything that she has learned over the years growing up in the church, and just her wrestling through all of that, and how God revealed Himself to her in that season of sickness and health challenges. And I think they used that word “among us,” so she said, “Man, God is among us,” and that really triggered this theme for us to think through and to become aware of where is God. It’s easy for us to say, “Emmanuel,” and celebrate God as Emmanuel, but a lot of times when we go through hard things, it is easy to feel very distant and to wonder and to even doubt, “Is God really there?” And so we want to just create that space today as we look at this topic about God among us in our doubts, right?
And that’s kind of a strange thing. A lot of times we don’t talk about that in the church. It’s not always even a safe place to allow that space to say, “Man, I have some doubts. I have some concerns. Is God really real? Is the stuff that I’ve been learning, can I really believe in God’s Word? Is this just a fairy tale?”
And I think we can all agree that throughout our faith journey that we sometimes deal with doubt. Anybody relate? Anybody? Okay, good. There’s some honest people here. That’s awesome. I think it’s—not everyone maybe doubts, but there’s a lot of us that doubt sometimes in our faith journey. And then to say, “What do we do with that? How do we interact with that? Can I bring that to God? Is that even okay to share that with him? Is he gonna zap me? Is he gonna say, ‘Oh, what a loser! How can he doubt me?’”
I don’t know that doubt is a good thing. I don’t want to say this morning, “Oh, it’s okay to doubt,” because I think in the big picture, when we look at scripture, God wants us to have faith in him. Right? So it is way better to have faith in him and not doubt him, but guess what? Life happens, and we have some doubts. And then, so how do we grow out of that? What do we do with those feelings and with those emotions and some of those questions? And that’s things that we will try to answer today.
The picture that kind of came to mind for me was thinking about when Hailey was little, and she hated to get water in her face when she was jumping in the swimming pool. And so, you know, when she was like two/three years old, she’s on the side of that swimming pool, and I’m standing in the pool, and I say, “Jump!” You know, “I’m gonna catch you.” And it’s like, man, you have that little coach motivational talk for about half an hour to convince her to actually jump in, right? That she can trust you.
And the same way, I think when it comes to doubt, that’s a little bit with God—God is like, “Hey, you don’t have to doubt me. I’m gonna be there for you. You can jump.”
But there’s sometimes a little bit of motivation and for us to solve some stuff in our heads at least, and our thought process to say, “It’s okay. I can actually jump, and I can trust God in all of this.”
I want to give you just a definition this morning as we think about doubt. It says—kind of a common definition is “to lack confidence, to consider unlikely.”
Doubt in Worship
And so there’s a fascinating passage in Matthew 28, and we’re gonna look at three different stories this morning. The first story this morning is from Matthew 28:17. This is an amazing story. This is a powerful story actually about the church because we see the Great Commission following in verse 18. And so this is where Jesus is now gonna send out his disciples, and he’s gonna say, “Go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them.” So a very, very powerful moment. But just before that, 28:17, it says this:
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Just pause there for a second. It’s like, “they worshiped him, but some doubted.” This is the disciples, people! Now, again, I don’t know what all went through their head and what are all of the things that they doubted, but it’s like, they worshiped, and yet some of them—the Bible doesn’t give us the names; I wish the Bible did. It’s like, man—well, it’s probably Thomas. We can probably throw Thomas in there, right? But who else? Lord, give me names. Give me names of those disciples that is struggling, that’s kind of worshiping. They’ve got their hands in the air, but inside, they’re doubting. You know, they just experienced the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there’s all these witnesses and appearances of Jesus Christ, and yet they worship and they are doubting.
How is this all gonna play out? What is Jesus communicating to us? What’s the next step? What’s gonna happen next in this incredible story?
Now this morning, as we look at that passage at least, I want to just say, it’s okay to doubt in worship. We don’t have to have all of the answers to come before God. A lot of times as we come to church, you know, we can be intimidated and to even say, “Man, can I honestly worship God, can I have my hands up in the air, even when I have a lot of questions, even if I’m not one hundred percent sure?” And we see that they were worshiping, but some of them were doubting. And I just want to—at least when we look at this biblical example, we can see that they were worshiping, but there was some that was doubting.
Now we don’t see Jesus coming out and saying, “Oh, I’m gonna just zap you. You’re out of here. You’re not gonna be part of the A-team anymore.” You know, “There’s a C-team for you.” Right?
And that’s sometimes how we might feel. We can come into a church building like this, and we can say, “Man, there’s so many other people. Look at them as they’re worshiping. They got their whole act together. They got their beautiful family. We never hear any complaints about them.” It’s like, “Man they must be doing everything right.” And yet we don’t know that there’s many of us gathering on a Sunday morning that doesn’t have all of the answers, that are dealing with stuff, that are dealing about their future, and wondering about their future, and wondering how is God gonna solve some of the stuff that is happening in their lives.
I love that Jesus didn’t rebuke the disciples’ doubt. Instead, he commissioned them to go and make disciples. Right? It’s like, we have the Great Commission. Just before that you would think that this would be such a highlight moment. This is such a big moment, you know, where they’re being commissioned, and everyone is excited, and they’re ready to go. They worshiped, and they had some uncertainties. They had some stuff happening in their heart.
And I want you to just know this morning again, as we reflect on this Advent season, right, as a lot of us might even say, “Can God use me even if I don’t have all my ducks in a row?” Right? And at least when we look at this scripture, the answer is “yes.” God is not waiting for us to be all perfect, to have all of scripture memorized, right, for you not to have doubt in your life, before he can actually use you. No, in spite of all of the things that they were dealing with, God commissioned them to go.
Honest Questions
Let’s look at one more story, Luke chapter 1, verse 18–20. It says:
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Now I can tell you several things about Zechariah in the sense that he was part of the priestly lineage. Right? He’s an educated man, God’s been using him, and we can’t even imagine that he is doubting, that he’s struggling. And he’s wrestling with this promise. There’s an angel that just appeared to him and said, “Well, you’re gonna have a boy.”
And he looks at the situation and he’s like, “How is this gonna be? I’m old; my wife is old.” Right? “I’m thinking about retirement.” And he questions—I don’t think, he doesn’t question God. It’s not about doubt in God, but it is about, “How is this all gonna work out? I need to be a younger man for all of this to work out in my life.” And so he goes silent. He’s not able to speak until later on when God gives him his voice back.
And you kind of have to wonder, why did God do that? Maybe it created some space for him to really think about what God was doing and building some faith back in his in his life.
But for us to realize, when we look at these stories, it’s kind of story after story that doubt can even arise in the faithful. We have seen that now within the life of the disciples. We have seen this now in Zechariah. He’s kind of family in the life of Jesus, right? He’s a priest, and he has got some questions.
And I love that he’s asking an honest question. He’s like, “Okay, how is this all gonna work out?” I think a lot of times in churches or in Christianity, we don’t always have the freedom to ask honest questions, either to, you know, our friends in the faith, or to even have that honest conversation and ask that honest question towards God. Say, “God, how is this all gonna work out? How are you gonna do this?”
I don’t know if you have experienced that in your past, where God has promised some stuff in your life, and you’ve maybe experienced a call or different things, God has called you to crazy things, and you’re like, “Okay, Lord. Is this me? Is this Satan? What is this? How’s this all gonna work out? I’m not gifted enough. I’m not talented enough.” You know, whatever questions you might be asking, and I think it’s okay to have that honest question.
When we think about our relationship with God, what do you think God prefers? Does he prefer that honesty and for you to be authentic, or kind of just to fake it, and inside of your heart to have all of these fears and concerns, and then you come in prayer before the Lord and act like you have it all together, and that there’s no doubt. You know, how can God bless that? God wants us to be honest. He wants us to be authentic and to bring our hard questions to him.
Even the Faithful Doubt
And then finally our last story this morning as we look at characters that maybe struggled and that had some doubts. Matthew 11, verse 2, and this is John the Baptist.
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
This is John the Baptist. He’s been preaching, he’s been giving his life to prepare the way for Jesus, and he finds himself in prison, and now he’s wondering. He’s got some questions, and he’s sending out this question. It’s like, “Okay Jesus, is this really you? Are you really gonna change things? What’s kind of next up? What’s our next step in all of this?”
And then again, I love the response from Jesus in verse 4. It says:
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Again, we don’t see him rebuking John, right? He says, “Here’s the report. Here’s what’s happening. The gospel is being preached. People are getting healed.” But he’s not coming down on John the Baptist.
And again, I want us to just see this—doubt can arise even in the faithful. So don’t look down on yourself today as you wrestle maybe even with some questions and doubt in your own life.
And I love, when we look at that story, that God doesn’t define John the Baptist by his doubt, right? Actually, when we look at Matthew 11:11, it says:
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”
That is so encouraging, like, even in some of John’s struggles, that these are the words that Jesus is still, you know, declaring over him.
Wrong Approaches to Doubt
I love this quote by Henri Nouwen. It says:
“The journey of faith is not about the elimination of doubt but allowing doubt to be transformed into deeper trust.”
So this morning for us to just say, “Hey, so what do I do with doubt? You know, how do I think through this?” Because doubt in itself, if we handle it from a biblical perspective, I don’t think it’s all that bad. I believe that it can actually help us to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus Christ. But there’s some wrong ways for us to approach doubt, so I want to just look at several of them. And I’ve wrestled with some of these, and maybe you’ve done as well.
I think there’s a temptation for us to ignore or suppress that down. Just like, “Okay, I have it, but I’m just gonna ignore it. I’m just gonna push that deep down. I’m just gonna act like it’s not there.” And I think that’s a mistake for us, and I think it’s just gonna just pop up again if we don’t deal with that in our lives.
And then a lot of times I see this, you know, just the isolation, that it’s so easy for us to just kind of go into isolation, because there’s maybe guilt or shame in our lives. When we think about other people, it’s like, “Well, they’re so spiritual. They don’t have any doubts and questions.” It’s like, “I don’t belong there.” And again, I don’t think that that’s the biblical way of doing it.
It’s so easy—when that becomes our focus, and when we allow doubt, and we just kind of sit in that and we don’t address it—for us to become bitter, right? And I think we need to really protect our hearts from that, to work through it, not to just kind of sit in that. A lot of times, as people are dealing with questions, a lot of times they can say, “Well that’s gonna be too much work to deal with all of that,” and they just kind of stuff it down, or then they just kind of give up on their faith and they walk away. And we do become, then—people can become angry and bitter.
Biblical Approaches to Doubt
Now, what’s the right way of overcoming doubt and dealing with it? A couple of things, and just to share with you some things that I have applied in my own life.
I think this morning for us to just bring our doubts to Jesus, in the same way that John the Baptist brought his question to God. Bring your doubts and your questions directly to Jesus. Guess what? He can handle it. Amen? He can handle it. You’re not gonna throw him off his throne because you’re doubting and you have some hard questions. Bring it to him. Get it out.
Anchor yourself in scripture. This is key, right? Even as you think about some of your questions and doubt, continue to press in, because we are reminded in scripture, it says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.” Right? And so, Satan will do whatever to stop you to read God’s Word and to steal some of that seed of faith that’s already in you. And believe me, when we study God’s Word and when we anchor ourselves in God’s Word, that faith will come. It will grow. It will deal with some of your doubt in your life.
And then reflect on your past victories. I mean, just think about how many victories God has given you over your life. Right? God has been so faithful, right? How many overwhelming moments and moments in your life where maybe different things in your family, and it’s just like, “Man, this is the end of me. There’s no way that God can figure this out. There’s no way that God can solve this. There’s no way that God can make a different open door.” And yet you are here today, amen? You have experienced God’s faithfulness. You have experienced some of those victories in your life that just reminds us, man, that God is real. God is faithful.
And then lastly, turn your doubt into prayer. And maybe that might even mean, as we read about this father in Mark 9:24 it says, as he was praying for his, you know, bringing his daughter to Jesus, where he was praying, it says:
“I believe; help my unbelief!”
Right? That is so authentic. It’s like, “Lord, I’m believing, and yet I’m doubting. I’m struggling. I’m bringing my daughter. Will you heal, but still help my unbelief?” That is so great, so powerful.
Faith Despite What We Feel
C.S. Lewis got this great quote, it says:
“Faith… is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
That’s powerful. It’s like, don’t let just your mood affect the things that you believe in.
Sometimes doubt can be so overwhelming where we’re not able to see God at all. And you’ve maybe experienced that, and maybe you’re experiencing that even this morning. And again, the picture that kind of came to mind for me, I was thinking about just the harbor, and sometimes when you have that foggy moments and you think about those big ships that are coming in, and probably all that they have is—they don’t have their actual sight to actually see where they’re going, but you have the lighthouse, right, and you have instruments that you can trust in that moment, because you can’t see anything in front of you.
In that same way this morning, even for us, maybe as you’re dealing with some challenges and doubt, and you just wonder, it’s like, “Man, where is God in all of this?” And you might not have a clear picture exactly on what’s in front of you, but we do have scripture, right? And this morning I’m asking you to just to believe in scripture, to believe in that light, even though you can’t see it, even though you may be not able to feel that this morning. I want to just remind you that God is among us this morning. He is Emmanuel. Nothing has changed because of your emotions and things and concerns and fears that’s maybe driving some stuff this morning. God is among us. And it’s not based on your feelings. It is based on evidence; it is based on what he has done; it is based on scripture, and God is faithful.