Why Do You Doubt?

Hi everybody!!!

I am so excited to get back into the swing of things and share with you the things that God has been working with me on! Before I get into this topic of doubt, I want to THANK EVERYBODY that has watched my new spoken word video entitled, “Ready.” If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch it, I want you to click this link, Ready and subscribe to my youtube channel and share with others!

My main aim was to tell everybody that you are worth more than you think you are! God has so much for you.

Alrighty, now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about doubt!

Doubt, as Webster’s defines it, is a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. Feelings of uncertainty don’t occur over night and it develops as we allow our fears to override the truth of God’s Word.

Doubt has a way of creeping up on you when you least expect it! It’s almost as if when you are ready to take this leap of faith, there is this pain in your side called Doubt that comes out of nowhere telling you, “YOU WON’T MAKE IT!” I am reminded of a familiar story in the Bible that addresses this very issue of doubt.

In Matthew 14:22-33, the apostle Peter knows exactly how we would feel in regards to doubt. I have provided the entire story in the NLV, so please bare with me as we break it down together.

“At once Jesus had His followers get into the boat. He told them to go ahead of Him to the other side while He sent the people away. After He had sent them away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. By this time the boat was far from land and was being thrown around by the waves. The wind was strong against them.

Just before the light of day, Jesus went to them walking on the water. When the followers saw Him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, “It is a spirit.” They cried out with fear. At once Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take hope. It is I. Do not be afraid!”

Peter said to Jesus, “If it is You, Lord, tell me to come to You on the water.” Jesus said, “Come!” Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. He began to go down in the water. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” At once Jesus put out His hand and took hold of him. Jesus said to Peter, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”

When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. Those in the boat worshipped Jesus. They said, “For sure, You are the Son of God!”

I’ve read this sooooo many times but I get a different interpretation every time. Jesus displayed His power to His disciples by walking on water and that is a testament to us that He is bigger than our situation. The Lord also knew that if Peter would have the confidence in Him, Peter would be able to walk on the water. Defying the laws of gravity was not the remarkable part, it was the fact that if Peter placed his hope on Jesus the storms of life would not overtake him.

We are very much like Peter who want to have the faith to do what God has called us to do! I mean who doesn’t want to reach their full potential? We have enough hope to believe that we will make it to our destinations, but we get distracted by the thoughts in our own head so we never take that leap of faith. All we can see are the waves crashing in on our lives and we get fearful. We trust that the waves will get bigger but we don’t trust the Lord who the wind and seas obey.

There are things that God has called us to do. God will and has not given us more than we can handle! If the waves in our lives are getting bigger, He knows that you and I can walk on and through it.

The most remarkable thing that Jesus did was how He called Peter to COME. Can we be honest and say that we don’t obey or obey quickly? When we don’t obey quickly, we choose to feed into our own doubt and insecurities. When God tells us to do something, we have to OBEY NOW and not later. I know for myself the moment I start to question if this is the Lord or not,  I won’t come. I will talk myself out of what He called me to do. I don’t want that for any of you! We can’t converse with the pain in our lives, the voices in our head, and the doubt in our heart. We have to uproot these things by asking God to heal our unbelief (Matt.9:24).

Jesus is calling us to COME. He is the STILL in the STORM. He is the One who can calm our fears. God is bigger than the WAVES in our lives because, He made the waves and determines our future. I’m learning that if we run away from the WORD OF GOD, we will sink and all the doubts in our head will speak louder than the Lord. I can tell a difference when I am not reading the Word. I start to think about things that don’t even make sense and I start to doubt and get irritated. God wants us to get our FOCUS back! I know you may be distracted but we have to refute the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word. We have to CHOOSE to internalize that the Bible is absolute truth. The Word will calm our fears and it will give us the push we need to trust God!

This week I encourage you to listen to this song Give me faith. Every time the feeling of doubt comes, worship your way through it. Magnify the Lord even in your dilemma. God is bigger! Let’s trust Him.

I love you all, but God loves you more!