Doubts

            I've often said I don't know how people without faith in God can survive.  How awful it would be to believe in nothing!  Or to believe there is a God but not one who is interested in my life, or who loves me, or who has the ability to offer guidance and comfort, when the world around me crumples.

I cannot grasp that some kind of explosion created the stars and galaxies around us at the perfect distance they have remained these many years.  Nor can I believe that our earth is set in our solar system perfectly by the said explosion, that allows us to live in the world as we know it.  My mind cannot grasp the idea we evolved from fish, further to monkeys and then became man.  Our bodies are so intricate, even the best scientists haven't figured everything out about it!  There are so many things that just couldn't have happened by fluke. 

            A teenage daughter of a friend passed away a year or so ago after battling cancer.  She said to her dad when things were upside down in her world and despite her pain….  “I don’t know how people who have no faith can get through tough times. It is only by God’s grace that we can get through something like this without feeling totally alone and feeling like we’re in darkness.”  She was an incredible inspiration to her father, friends and other members of her family, and even now, as those who loved her reflect on the impact she made on those who knew her.

            I believe in God as the Great Creator who loves us, cares for us and knows us beyond the realms of imagination.  But even knowing this, I find myself occasionally feeling like the disciples and have doubts.  Certainly, when Jesus was crucified they doubted what they believed.  How could Jesus die?  What happened to forever?  Still after Jesus was not in the tomb, those amazing three days after the cross, they wondered; and then even when they saw him and finally realized who he was, isn’t it entirely likely in their human-ness they weren’t, at least momentarily, doubtful they were really talking with Jesus?   There are times I doubt about who I am, what I'm supposed to do on this earth, where I'm supposed to be. 

            That's when satan wins.  That's when satan uses my human-ness against me.  That's also when, I have to rebuke satan and remind myself of Christ dying on that cross with nail scarred hands and feet.  When He died on the cross, He took my sins and gave me His righteousness.  As His child I am no longer what the world sees as just another statistic with nothing to offer or without value.  God sees me as clean and valuable, worth accomplishing something for Him.  So when I doubt myself and my abilities, aren’t I suggesting God is wrong? 

            God is real.  His promises are sound and firm. He is as real as the warm sun, the smile of a child, the wet of the rain, the beauty of the mountains and the love of his Son.  I challenge you to take time to re-connect with God.  Wash away all your doubts with His blood.  Accept His love and live in peace.