02/20/2021
Last week’s lesson on doubt.
Fear and doubt:
What am I, We avoiding?
Uncertainty.
Look at the “what is,” not the “what if’s.”
There are countless “what if’s”that are added to our story’s past present and future. What if this doesn’t work? What if i fail? What if i had responded differently?
These are a natural symptom of fear and uncertainty. None of us is certain of how our dreams, efforts and emotional investments will affect the outcome. Some things are out of our control and sometimes we forge ahead and make the wrong choices. These help us grow and learn.
Fear and doubt are built into our Human dna (all species) as a survival instinct. It allows us to take some time to assess. There is the fight ( forge ahead), flight ( dangerous ), or freeze (try to become low on the radar) response. When we are faced with doubt, sometimes we make right choices, sometimes not, and then sometimes we become paralyzed. Sometimes we can make lemonade from the lemons that life gives us.
Accept that all of us are experiencing the same dilema.
What to do then about faith instead of doubt with respect to God; with respect to really believing in and wanting to follow Christ?
Simon Peter had his own form of impulsive, wholehearted faith. He jumped from the boat to walk across the water to meet Jesus. He sank. Why? Jesus certainly had the power to keep Peter above the water, but allowed him to fail. What did He know about Peter? What did He want Peter (and us) to learn from this? Did
Peter’s faith in Christ falter when he realized what he was doing? Or was his faith, his bravado, in himself? Whatever the answer, Peter suddenly realized that his own faith wasn’t enough to get him there. He took his eyes off Jesus and got scared. We all try doing things, sometimes extraordinary things beyond our own abilities. How can our faith in God help us overcome self doubt?
That brings me to one last point. Since Jesus was fully human, did he experience doubt and fear? Does he know what that feels like? How did Jesus respond to Peter’s fear of drowning? How did He respond to Thomas’ doubt? Thomas needed to see to believe. Peter needed to reach up and grab a hand. Jesus was cool with that. He understood. He acknowledged their doubts and provided a lesson.
In both instances he responded with grace. Not judgement. Basically His reaction to both situations was the same.
I think that Jesus was familiar with these feelings of doubt. He was fully human. Some examples of Jesus’ humanity and doubt might be:
Prayer in the garden.
Crying out from the cross.
The first miracle as his mother urged him to provide the wine at the wedding. He said “it is not the time.” Was this an expression of doubt or fear that he would be launched into the role that He was made for? Did He wonder about how everything would change from that moment going forward?
Did God realize that in providing us with His perfect son, we would need Him to be relatable in terms of our fears?
Jesus cried out from the cross, “Why hast Thou forsaken me!”
I believe Christ experienced the full realm of being human. And He held fast and true to His purpose even in the darkest moment. That took faith. Perhaps doubt, our human condition of taking time to think and assess can be informed by faith. Rather than impulsively jumping into the waters, perhaps we should ask for the faith that will be needed to rise above the storm. He will respond with evidence that He is real and with us.
Can we come to Him with our fears and doubts? Yes.
