Time for a true confession. It won’t compete with celebrity scandals on TV. It’s a confession you won’t see on the papers at the checkout line at the grocery store. I must confess that I struggle with doubt. I struggle with the thought that it’s possible to not doubt. Doubting seems so natural. 

It seems natural all through the Bible. In the Old Testament, Job questioned God. Psalms include complaints to God when life doesn’t make sense. Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah are a few of the Old Testament faithful who were confused by what God was doing. 

In the New Testament, after the crucifixion, the disciples are in despair. The One who commanded the wind and the waves is gone. The One who conquered demons, disease, and death in others, has died. 

Then they see Jesus alive. He appears to them again and again over 40 days. In Matthew 28:16-17, just before the Great Commission, we read, the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mount where Jesus had sent them. When they saw him they worshiped him. But some doubted. 

After all that, some still doubted. Doubt may be more natural than we like to think. 

Our doubt may be a moment of uncertainty. “Should we pray for God to use us to reach our city in an event of biblical proportions?” We say, “yes", then wonder if it’s a realistic prayer. Our doubt may be a decades-long struggle. “Why did my parent or spouse or child have to suffer or die?” We tell ourselves, “God is in control. He knows what is best. We will understand it better by and by.” Then we wonder if it’s true. 

Doubt may come when we don’t see an answer to our prayers. Even worse, doubt may come when we don’t understand the answer to our prayers and the pain goes on. 

We all face doubts. We all have times when our faith is weak. But doubt can be a step to strengthen our faith. It can push us to search for answers. When our faith is tested, the testing can make it stronger.