7 Powerful Truths to Remember When You Doubt God

As I considered the title for this post, I wondered if I should temper it a bit because the title is basically inferring that "you WILL doubt God".  But as I contemplated this some more, I realized that indeed, ALL Christians WILL doubt God at some point or another...

Early on in my Christian walk, I doubted my Salvation.  Coming out of a works based religion prior and then going into a legalistic church setting, I would find myself questioning my own salvation.  Basically depending on my actions and thoughts to qualify me for salvation and essentially doubting God's work in me.  It was a real struggle...   And one that I can fall prey to even still...

I am also the Chief of Doubters when it comes to answered prayer for myself.  As I've shared here before, I can pray big believing prayers to God for others, but when if I pray for myself,  I just assume God's answer will be no...

I have also doubted God in my own circumstances or circumstances outside of my realm where I don't understand why a situation is allowed to go on.

Maybe some of you can relate to these things, and I'm sure there are more areas of doubt that could be added to this list.

We are in good company...  Think about Jesus' Apostle who was  referred to as "doubting Thomas".   He at first doubted the resurrection.  Yet Jesus did not rebuke him, but relieved His doubts by allowing Thomas to put his fingers into the holes left by the piercings.

Gideon doubted that God could use him to change the course against Israel's oppressors.  He even tested God twice in this essentially asking God to prove Himself through a series of miraculous signs.  God proved His trustworthiness to Gideon by actually following through with Gideon's requests.

And both Abraham and Sarah doubted that God could give them a son in their old age.  In fact, both laughed at the prospect!

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

God knew we would doubt and has built into His Word Truths to help combat unbelief.

I believe there are 7 powerful Truths to remember when you find yourself doubting God.

                              1st Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                                     Christ Died for You

For God so loved the world 

that He gave His only begotten Son

that whoever should believe in Him shall not perish, 

but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Years ago my husband and I helped out with AWANA which is a children's ministry whose main focus was Bible verse memorization.  We would sit with the children as they recited their Bible memory work.  I was a brand new Christian at the time and learned quite a few verses with the children.  John 3:16 was one of them - basically, in my opinion, the cornerstone verse of the Bible.

Yet too often, even as Believers, I think we forget this everlasting Truth.  We get so caught up in the world, self, troubles, and our own doubts that we don't live daily in this incredibly freeing Truth.

If you would take this verse to heart and claim it for every trial, every sickness, every heartache, every disappointment, every self-criticism, you would not find yourself doubting God's care, concern and activity in your life, but you would see the same Sacrificial Love that sent Jesus to die for you working and present in those circumstances.  If God was willing to sacrifice His Son for you, there is NOTHING that He won't do for you!

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, Christ died for you.

                              2nd Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                               He Loved You Even When You Were Still Dead in Sin

But God, being rich in mercy, 

because of the great love with which he loved us,  

even when we were dead in our trespasses, 

made us alive together with Christ

—by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 2:4-5

Think about that!  When you were still separated from God, before you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior and repented from your sin, you were dead in your trespasses.  Yet God chose you before the foundations of the world to be reconciled to Him!  He chose you knowing all of your ugliness, all of your besetting sins, all the sins that you would do and He died for EVERY one of them - removing your sin as far as the East is from the West.

I don't know about you, but I would find it very hard to forgive someone who sinned so egregiously against me let alone love them so much that I would die for them!  But God in His perfect and Holy love, made a way for sinners to be with Him eternally, despite their sin!

When you find yourself doubting your worthiness before Jesus or you doubt, like I have, whether God could even save someone like you or you wonder whether He could still love you because you have recently sinned in a big way, take heart, God already knew your sins past, present and future and loved you anyway.  He STILL loves you now.

When you come before Him in confession as a Believer, you are not re-securing your salvation (which can never be taken away from you once you have believed), but you are confessing your sin before a Holy God to keep you close to God and to help you to grow in your walk of obedience.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, He loved you even when you were still dead in sin.

                             3rd Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                                  He is Your Heavenly Father

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, 

that we would be called children of God; 

and such we are. 

1 John 3:1a

Growing up, in my eyes, my dad could do anything he set his mind to!  There was nothing he couldn't fix and there was nothing he couldn't design or fashion to fit a particular need.  I never once doubted his abilities and I still don't!  He is 82 years old and still does many things that a typical 82-year-old could not do including heavy duty work on his car like he is 20!

I've heard it said that when a person doesn't have a good example in an earthly father that can cause doubts in the Heavenly Father, and I can certainly understand why it would be difficult to trust a father figure even if it's God.

But as I explained above, I DID have a good example in a dad, yet I still doubt God.  I think like I mentioned above, ALL Christians will doubt God at some point no matter what their history is.

I also find that I don't always think of God as Father.  The Lord is one God in three persons, and for me anyway, the Father part of that personhood I don't meditate upon as much as I should.  ESPECIALLY when I begin to doubt God.

The best example I can give to showcase how we should view God as our Father each day of our lives is the following story that I found online.  (I'm not sure who the author is.)

"I heard a story about a train traveling through the night in a very violent rainstorm. The lightning flashes were almost blinding, the rain hitting the windows was deafening and the strong gust winds rocked the train from side to side. When the lightening flashed and lighted up the darkness, the passengers could see the rising water along the tracks. This created terror in the minds of the passengers. Several passengers noted that through all the noise, lightening and wind, one of the passengers, a little girl, seemed to be at perfect peace…

 The adult passengers couldn’t figure out why the little girl was so calm during all this excitement. Finally, one passenger asked her, “How is that you can be so calm when all the rest of us are so worried about what might or could happen?” The little passenger smiled and said, “My father is the engineer.”

When we go through the storms of life, if we would just remember that our Heavenly Father is the Ultimate Engineer, that He is in control of ALL circumstances, and that we can rest in His love and provision no matter the circumstance, we would not doubt God.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, He is YOUR Father.

                                4th Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                                 God has Compassion on You

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15

Many doubts can be born out of our own guilt really.  We may recognize that we are not walking in Christ as we should be.  I don't know about you, but if I start my day out losing my temper or being discontent or complaining, the whole day spirals into a sinful mess.

Then I might find myself just wanting to stay mad, complain or be discontent in whatever circumstance I am unhappy about, further distancing myself from God and any movement toward confession.

The thought process could then continue, "Look at you Karen, YOU are a Pastor's wife and you are behaving like this!  YOU aren't worthy to serve God".  And then the doubts overtake regarding my worthiness to serve in this capacity.

You get the picture.  I'm allowing Satan's lies to crowd out the Truth that even in my sinfulness, God is slow to anger, compassionate and gracious to me.  My bad day does not disqualify me from His love OR His faithfulness.

Not only that, but His compassion will woo me back to Him in confession and repentance because His works through me will not be thwarted.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, He has compassion on you.

                              5th Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                              God's Plans for You are for Good

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

This verse, I believe, can have too much read into it...

God is not saying or guaranteeing that by prospering you, you we will be rich and have three houses and four cars.  But what He is saying is that in all things you will be prosperous.  You will prosper in your faith.  You will prosper in the works He set aside for you to do.   You will prosper in your trials and afflictions.  And you will have hope because your future is with Jesus eternally.

Having an eternal lens helps you to view life, well eternally!  In viewing life from an eternal perspective, doubts would have a very hard time surfacing because you would see everything that touches your life having eternal weight and worth.

If you are like me, you may struggle a lot with medical issues.  Wondering where God's good plans are and why you are suffering in this manner.  But indeed, that suffering prospers you in your faith.

The Apostle Paul comes to mind regarding prospering in God's works.   Even though he was imprisoned and had been charged with a ministry to the Gentiles by God, Paul did not doubt or become discouraged, but continued in the ministry allowing God to use him right where he was at.

Have you noticed that when you go through a difficult trial or affliction that ultimately God will use that experience in your life to encourage someone else.  Prospering you in your trial and affliction to give another hope.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God because His plans for you are for good.

                          6th Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                              Be still and Know that He is God

Be still and know that I am God

Psalm 46:10

A large stencil of this verse is affixed to the wall above my home office desk, a reminder to be still and know that He is God...

I confess that I forget this truth way too often...

I'm anything but still - under the misconception that worry is a productive activity to any given problem.

Google's definition of still reads as follows:

deep silence and calm

When you find yourself doubting God when everything around you seems in turmoil, when you can't make sense of a situation, are finding it hard to feel God's presence and you are anything but calm, remember that the Lord is your God.  He chose you.  He knows you intimately.  Every hair on your head is numbered.  He knows a word before it leaves your lips.  He knows when you sit and when you stand, when you come and when you go.

Knowing God means knowing God.  His attributes, His names, His Character, His story all of which are found in the Word of God which is unbreakable.

When all else is in chaos and you find yourself doubting God and His plan, think upon God's Word.  His Word is your Rock and your Stability.  It has power to still you before a Holy God.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, you need only be still and know that He is God.

                            7th Truth to Remember When You Doubt God                              Pray!

“I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24 b

One of the most powerful truths that we can use to combat doubting God is to pray.

When you are in a mindset that is causing doubts about God's presence, His plan or His love, tell him you are doubting.

In the story of the boy with the unclean spirit, the father was explaining to Jesus that the disciples could not remove the evil spirit.  He further addressed Jesus by saying, "if you can" when speaking about what Jesus could accomplish for his son.  Jesus rebuked him and said, ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”  After which Jesus healed the young boy of the unclean spirit.

Now that's a powerful prayer!  Even in this man's unbelief, all he had to do was cry out for help to remove his doubts and Jesus heard and answered the man's prayer by increasing his faith AND healing his son.

God wants your honesty.  I mean He knows what you are thinking and feeling already, but when you are honest with God, it ultimately increases your faith and grows your walk of obedience.

Remember, there is no need to doubt God, you need only to pray.

For related posts, please click on the following:

3 Effective Ways Christians Can Overcome Doubt

Believing the Unseen

Help my Unbelief!

You are Out of Your Mind!

6 Absolute Truths to Remember When Your Faith is Shaken

How to Overcome a Struggling Faith

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, 

but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,  

fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Romans 4:20-21

May we all grow strong in our faith and may our times of doubting God diminish as we remember these 7 powerful truths.

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