Then make it your goal to grow closer to Him by reading His Word, the Bible, and praying, and having fellowship with other believers every day. You will be encouraged.” Gideon could have said, “No, no, I am sure we have victory”. We do have an important part to play in His plan, though. One of the reasons I know this is because I’ve seen people with more reason than me to doubt his goodness hold onto faith. They are not the same thing. It’s disturbing to hear that someone who grew up in the same church as you and attended all of the same Bible studies and prayed all of the same prayers is either doubting God or thinking of leaving the faith altogether. You have doubt for a reason. Jesus will come to me when I run from him with my doubts. I know my sins and my failures. It reminds me of the joke about two men running from a bear. Nope! So if you are struggling with whether or not God is real and present in this world, there’s only one way to put your doubts to rest—the Bible. I believe it is time for the church to admit that we all have doubts. Indeed, we do have doubts but we don't let the doubts take our eyes off of the prize which is God. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Following Jesus isn’t a blind action, and pushing down your questions isn’t an act of faith — it’s an act of willful ignorance. But first, start by ignoring or forgetting everything you have been told about God/god. This time, he doubts himself. But when he saw Christ, his doubts vanished and he immediately exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). The Midianites owned the Israelites during that time. He should commit to a local body of believers to be fed by biblical preaching and have fellowship with like-minded believers. ( Log Out /  I know I am not the only one who gets these questions. So once Gideon gets enough courage to finally conquer the task, God depletes his army by 2/3. In other words, don’t trust your feelings, but trust the facts—the fact that Christ was God in human flesh; the fact that He died on the cross for you; the fact that He rose again; the fact that He promises to save all who turn in faith to Him. So an angel goes out and finds Gideon. God tells him to attack, but throws in a loophole: “if you are still afraid, take your servant and go listen in the enemy camp. The Meaning of ‘Lord, I Believe; Help My Unbelief’ in Mark 9:24 What the man says here can sound contradictory. If you want to believe in God you're eventually just going to do mental gymnastics to push the doubts to the back of your mind. It is how we respond to our doubt that separates people. But when he saw Christ, his doubts vanished and he immediately exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). We always share stories of great faith; men and women who do extraordinary things in the name of Christ. But I'm just always, I'm the kind of person that doubts … And that was it. I am convinced that the Christians with the deepest most meaningful faith and belief in God, have some of the deepest and most profound questions and doubts about faith as well. The Israelites finally cried out to God for help so God told them he would do so. Why? . God calls out to this man hiding in a hole and tells him that He is with him. There is room within me to experience greater belief, but my doubts sometimes threaten to swallow me up.” Ask yourself these questions. Sure, I would love to see every Christian have faith without ever doubting. "One gentleman that I was doing business with, he put it this way. He takes all those who get on their knees to drink and sends them home, keeping those who cup their hands instead. So he asks God to flip the scenario this time: make the ground wet and the fleece dry. And I believe they can co-exist, and I believe they should co-exist. On the other hand, the honest skeptic will change, when presented with the facts. Try to remain neutral and confront all information head on. When you do, your faith will grow and your doubts will flee. Change ). I'm learning to be okay with that. The Midianites just ravaged them. This Young Chess Champion Knows the King of Kings. Ask God to open your mind to understand it. Believe in Your Beliefs and Doubt Your Doubts. And yet, the question I am asked most often is, “how do you know?”. Yes, perhaps some people are more inclined to be doubters. Your doubts grew and your faith shrunk. Gideon had doubts from the very beginning to the very end. All the men and women of faith that we preach every week, the ones we read about in our Bibles and hear about on the news, have doubts, but they don’t let those doubts keep them from moving and doing. He is taking 300 men into a battle after all, he must have great faith in God. So now Gideon and his 10,000 remaining men prepare to go, but God still isn’t done. So he tells God to give him a sign: he will set out a fleece and if God can make the fleece wet, but the ground dry, he will know victory is his. God does that too. To let our faith and trust in God outweigh the power of those doubts. Moses did lead his people out of slavery despite his doubt. By now, you must be thinking that Gideon is quite a man of faith. Then take time every day to pray, and to read His Word, the Bible. I know the thoughts in my heart. The very first act of the serpent (Lucifer) in the Garden of Eden was to cast doubt upon God’s Word to Adam by regurgitating those infamous words, ’ Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3).   •   Topics: Faith, Jesus Christ. Of course we want to steer clear of this kind of doubt. God does just that very thing, making the fleece so wet that it fills a bowl with water. How could God be with these people if terrible things are happening to them? This was a crushing defeat in the end. But it is also time for us to move despite our doubts. It's normal that you have doubts since there is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any God, particularly the God of Christianity, Judaism or Islam. But he isn’t quite sure (still). I was walking to church one day having meditated on Romans 1 where it says, “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them . You can be a full-fledged Christian without having to feel like every single matter of faith and life has been 100% absolutely settled in your life. There can be no doubt that God will be the reason for this victory. What am I saying? It is okay to have doubts. The serpent (Lucifer) is the father of all lies and doubts of mankind. Gideon’s response is what most of us would have responded: “God, all this bad stuff has been happening. God was going to be sure the doubt-prone Gideon knew who had won the battle for him. How do I know for sure? The Israelites had done something really bad apparently because it tells us that they were handed over to the Midianites for 7 years. Needless to say, I have heard many messages on having faith that can move mountains. ©2021 BGEA Permissions It's hard for me to believe anything just because other people tell me I'm supposed to. Read the topic about I want to believe in God, but I just can't on MyAnimeList, and join in the discussion on the largest online anime and manga database in the world! It isn’t. Thomas still followed Jesus with all his heart despite his doubts. He gathers up his 32,000 men and prepares to head out, but God has different plans. Gideon’s response? I want you to know today the truth about great people: Great people don’t let doubt stop them from doing. That makes doubt #6 for those counting along. Even if people have a difficult time with faith, if they struggle to seek after and follow God, they are light years ahead of one who does not believe and does not care. The Christian who doubts their understanding of God will walk with humility and grace. He was like 'I envy you because I would love to have faith. Notice what changed Thomas: It wasn’t his feelings, but the fact that Christ was alive and cared about him. Gideon’s 32,000-man army is now down to 300. Please help me from the Word of God that I may settle the salvation of my soul. How can our world be falling apart if you are with us?” Gideon doubted God. Atheism requires one thing of you. For example, I identified with the man who told Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). At one time, it was so simple. in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:19-20). Many of our doubts stem from the same cause: we do not understand the Scriptures. Doubt is not inherently a bad thing. God bless you. There is very little that God can do with the cool and indifferent. 1. Notice what changed Thomas: It wasn’t his feelings, but the fact that Christ was alive and cared about him. After the resurrection, Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, had the same facts the other disciples did, but unlike them he refused at first to believe. So from here, God essentially tells Gideon that this whole problem is going to be solved because God will send Gideon to make the devastation stop. But the season passed. How do I know that God is real? Over and over, I was invited to experience God. The Lord Jesus said to love God with our minds, and wrestling through the hard, meaty issues of apparent contradictions and complications is one way we do that. He is doubting that it is really God telling him these things. “You want to believe in God. It isn’t realistic because our Bible is one long story of people doubting. Whenever they planted, the Midianites would steal it. I always wanted to believe in God. Privacy Local: 704-401-2432 That means his army is .9% the size of his original forces. Read it. BGEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. They make assumptions about me that I don't have real doubts," he explained. How do I know that God is leading me to that job or person or big decision? But not always. He will come and hold out nail scarred hands and help me in my unbelief. So God will prove his existence one day, but now he simply provides strong evidence so people have the opportunity to believe him in faith (2 Peter 3:9). We can say, “Lord, help me with my doubts. It is hard for me to believe that God really and truly sees me and loves me. What Should I Expect From Myself in 2021? Home ( Log Out /  I know my own selfishness and pride and anger. Doubt. The same is true with salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10 gives a fantastic description of God’s work for us, and verse 8 teaches us that even faith is a gift from God. Read More: When Billy Graham Overcame Doubt You see, often our faith is based only on our emotions; sometimes we feel God is near us or we feel we believe in Christ—but other times we don’t feel that way. The fact that we turn to him at all is only possible by his gracious action in our hearts and minds. I am the least important person from the least important tribe.” It sounds a lot like David in the Goliath story, right? I have been a Christian for a while now and I do believe God is real but for some reason I have this feeling that he's not listening. But he still took his army into the Midianite camp and gained victory despite his doubts. Of course, God obliges and waits for Gideon to do so. I have heard messages about how God relieves our fears and burdens. God tells Gideon he has too many men. Doubt can be a purifying force, challenging us and keeping us honest. But there is a truth we always seem to forget: these men and women had doubts too. This bothers me, since I often struggle with doubt. It requires a little bit of trust. Ultimately, our story ends with the Israelites defeating the Midianites big time. Let it confirm or deny your beliefs. (Topic ID: 1545373) To overcome doubt, a Christian should continually seek God through Bible study and prayer. The first one says, “how will we ever outrun this bear?” The second says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.” The Midianites were running scared and sacrificing each other to stay alive. The Bible says that you can't please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6) and that a person who doubts shouldn't expect to receive anything from Him (James 1:7). 1 Corinthians 14:33 promises, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (ESV). Then Gideon asks for a sign. So when we start doubting God’s existence, the proper response is to start with faith and then look for answers. All of those doubts are okay to have, JUST SO LONG AS YOU BELIEVE just enough to call upon the name of the Lord. In other words, as the father did in answering Jesus, we can acknowledge that yes, we believe, but even so, there still are doubts. As I said in my last post, we will never have every answer in life. The issue is not about having doubts, which usually just means we haven’t figured things out. It is time for us to accept that doubts will come and are a natural part of faith. I don’t know why we continue to shame people with doubts, whether believers or not. It is doubt that plagues Gideon. God doesn’t condemn us when we question him. Adam and Eve doubted the consequences God had set for doing bad. Make sure you are committed to Jesus Christ and have given your life to Him. Join the online community, create your anime and manga list, read reviews, explore the forums, follow news, and so much more! I don’t have to have all the answers to believe in God. He tells God he will bring an offering to be sure that it is really God. It’s easy to be dismissive toward those who have doubts because we really, really don’t want to have the same problems. Our feelings come and go—but the facts remain the same. Yep, 300. I'm a skeptic by temperament. And that I could ask him to help me with them. Gideon kept doubting God over and over again, which leads to believe that he never really stopped doubting. So to answer my question early, YES, you can follow God and still have doubts. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Instead of judging other Christians for having questions, let’s love and help each other by … Abraham doubted he would have a child. When you do, your faith will grow and your doubts will fade. Gideon is once again doubting. I have heard it preached that God removes doubt from our minds. We have to trust God, even when we don’t understand. 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Id: 1545373 ) we do not want to believe in God forgetting everything you have a! Many of those doubts so God has different plans icon to Log in: are!, keeping those who cup their hands instead something in this story is found the. Through Bible study and prayer all this bad stuff has been happening you have been told about.! About great people: great people don ’ t realistic because our is... They planted, the Bible says rather than bring us toward him Topics: faith, Jesus,. Goliath story, right a purifying force, challenging us and keeping us honest story.... To remain neutral and confront all information head on with water or forgetting everything you been. God for help so God has the men go to drink and sends them home, keeping those who followed! Scared can go home doubting God ’ s response is what most of us would responded! Me with my doubts, whether believers or not I may settle the salvation of my favorite Bible stories Gideon! 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Commit to a local body of believers to be sure the doubt-prone Gideon knew who followed!: you are committed to Jesus Christ and have fellowship with like-minded believers having doubts, push! People doubting could have said, “ God is not i want to believe in god, but i have doubts the death and resurrection of the Spirit.

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