Remember

Remember

Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

— Luke 24:27

 

When you are going through hardship, you don't need pious platitudes or silly sayings. You need the Word of God. That alone resonates. That alone gives hope. That alone resounds in your soul. And, quite frankly, not only do those other things fail to help, but they sometimes hurt. When we try to think of something clever or insightful to say that isn't based on what Scripture says, it can be very unhelpful, to say the least.

Even if you have been a Christian for awhile and have studied the Word of God—or even preached the Word of God—it doesn't mean that you cannot forget it on occasion. That is why Peter, in one of his epistles, wrote that he wanted to stir up the people's memory by reminding them of certain things (see 2 Peter 3:1).

Remember

Remember

Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

— Luke 24:27

 

When you are going through hardship, you don't need pious platitudes or silly sayings. You need the Word of God. That alone resonates. That alone gives hope. That alone resounds in your soul. And, quite frankly, not only do those other things fail to help, but they sometimes hurt. When we try to think of something clever or insightful to say that isn't based on what Scripture says, it can be very unhelpful, to say the least.

Even if you have been a Christian for awhile and have studied the Word of God—or even preached the Word of God—it doesn't mean that you cannot forget it on occasion. That is why Peter, in one of his epistles, wrote that he wanted to stir up the people's memory by reminding them of certain things (see 2 Peter 3:1).

Struggling with Doubt

Struggling with Doubt

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"

— Matthew 11:2

 

It may surprise you to know that some of the greatest men and women of God whom we read about in the pages of Scripture have had their moments of doubt. Even the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, struggled with doubt.

In John's case, we might say that his doubt was due to confusion. He had a certain concept of what the Christ was supposed to do that Jesus simply was not doing. It is not that Jesus was failing to do what He was supposed to do; it was that John misunderstood what God was going to do.

An Element of Faith

An Element of Faith

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.

— 2 Corinthians 1:8

 

A French proverb says, "He that knows nothing doubts nothing." Sometimes doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. It means we are thinking something through. We are grappling with it. We are trying to process and understand it. And sometimes we have to go through the foyer of doubt to enter into the sanctuary of certainty.

Doubting is not necessarily sinful. Doubt is a matter of the mind, while unbelief is a matter of the will. Doubt says, "I don't get it. Help me understand this. Work with me through this." But unbelief says, "I get it. I don't like it. And I refuse to accept it."