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Part 2 of 5
Doubting God Series
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In the New Testament, theologians identify 13 post-resurrection appearances of Jesus before his Ascension. He appeared to the women near the tomb, to two men on the road to Emmaus, to ten of the disciples, to 500 believers, and at various other times—taking them fishing, up on mountains, to beaches. Jesus appeared 13 different times to his disciples after his death and resurrection.
In Matthew 28, before his Ascension, the disciples were on a mountain with Jesus. The Ascension is when Jesus ascended into the clouds—a moment that must have been extraordinary. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave his disciples their divine assignment: to go into all the world and tell the story of what had happened. He commissioned them to preach the gospel—that Jesus is the Son of God, without sin, who became sin for us, died on a cross, and was raised from the dead so that anyone who believes in him would be forgiven and transformed.
Matthew 28:16-17 contains a verse that many people overlook: "Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Jesus, they worshiped him, but some of them doubted."
When the disciples saw the risen Christ, they worshiped him. Yet some of them still doubted. This is the beginning of our message series, Doubting God. Today's message is about Dealing With Your Doubt.
It's a striking observation about human nature: when we see struggles in someone else's life, we often find it encouraging. I find it comforting that the disciples could see the resurrected Christ with their own eyes and still doubt. It makes me feel better knowing they struggled too. This week, I posted transparently on social media about my own struggles—how I was diagnosed with shingles while preparing for Easter, how our house had mold and plumbing problems, how we had to replace our flooring and cabinets twice. And you know what people said? "Oh, it makes me feel so good." (laughs) There's something about human nature: when we see others struggle, it helps us feel less alone.
I can feel so close to God sometimes, and then still have doubts. I don't know if you can relate to that. There are times when God feels so real I can almost touch him—I believe he's good, I believe he's with me. But then there are other times, even in the middle of worship or church surrounded by spiritual community, when doubt creeps in: Is this stuff real? Are we just making this up? I prayed about this and God didn't show up.
It can be really scary and lonely in Christian circles when you start to doubt. You want to ask questions, but you wonder: Am I the only one? What will they think of me? You might feel guilty and ashamed. I'm convinced that some people are leaving the church not because God isn't good, but because they have questions they don't feel safe asking.
I see several reasons why we doubt:
Questions you can't answer. You come across something in the Bible and think, "It says that there, and it says this here, and I'm just not quite sure I understand."
Situations that seem unfair. You pray about something and God could have acted but didn't. Why didn't he? Does he love me? Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Why do innocent children suffer? Where is God in the suffering of this world?
Hurts you can't resolve. You looked up to a Christian and they did something horrible. You thought the church was a safe place, and it wasn't. Sometimes, we Christians make it worse. Some Christians don't have much grace—they operate in black-and-white theology with bumper-sticker answers. But the world is complicated. When someone has a question and can't find an answer, when they're hurt or let down, if there's no flexibility, no room to bend, then the stick breaks. People feel like the only option is to walk away from God.
I want to show you that your doubts, handled properly, can actually be a catalyst to stronger faith. Your doubts don't have to take you away from God—they can draw you closer.
Your faith is a journey, not a destination. You don't ever arrive at perfect faith. You don't graduate one day with an MBA or PhD in faith, knowing everything and understanding it all. There's no moment when you know it all. That's why I want to speak to parents who have raised children in the church: don't be surprised if your kids start to wrestle with doubt and ask hard questions. Don't panic. They've grown up watching your faith, and they may be wondering, Can I make your faith my own faith? This isn't necessarily bad. They may need to ask real, sincere, hard, complicated questions to make faith their own.
This is not a time to panic—it's a time to process and talk. The church and the home should be the safest places in the world to ask hard questions. The strongest faith isn't one that never doubts. The strongest faith is a faith that grows through your doubts.
Take Thomas as an example. After the resurrection, in John 20:24, Thomas wasn't with the other disciples when Jesus appeared. They told him, "We've seen the Lord." And in the Greek, this verb is in the active tense—they said it over and over and over: "We've seen the Lord. We've seen the Lord. We've seen the Lord."
But Thomas replied: "I won't believe unless I see the nail wounds in his hands. I won't believe unless I put my fingers into them. I won't believe unless I place my hand into the wounds in his side."
This is why Thomas is known as "doubting Thomas." But Thomas is getting a bad reputation. The other disciples believed because they'd seen Jesus. Thomas wanted to know for himself. He was a realist. He'd likely been through things, seen disappointments and heartbreaks. He had real, honest, sincere, complicated questions.
Just because you have questions, that doesn't make you bad. Questions make you human. Oswald Chambers said, "Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong. It may be a sign that he's thinking." Your doubts don't disqualify your faith.
I would rank Thomas among the greatest disciples in terms of spiritual strength and faith. Here's why:
First, there was a man named Lazarus who died. Four days later, Jesus said to the disciples, "Lazarus is dead. Let us go to him." And Thomas said to the rest of the disciples: "Hey, let's go, that we may die with Jesus." That's not fear—that's courage. Thomas was saying, "If they're going to kill us, let's be with Jesus when they do." That's not lack of faith; that's tremendous faith.
Second, in John 14, when Jesus said, "I'm going away to a place called heaven. I'm going to prepare mansions for you," Thomas asked: "Jesus, we don't know where you're going. So how can we go where you're going?" This was a sincere question from someone who said, "I want to go where you're going. I just need some details. I need you to answer my questions." Thomas wanted to know for himself.
If your kids—or if you yourself—start to have questions, this is not a time to panic. This is a time to process and talk. Keep pressing into the things of God.
How did Jesus respond to Thomas's doubt? Scripture says: "Eight days later, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was there."
Notice this: eight days later, Thomas showed back up. Even in the middle of his doubts, even when he wasn't sure, he showed back up. If there is anyone here who's been hurt or has doubts, let me applaud you—you showed back up. You're here. You're watching online. You just showed back up.
Then: "The doors were locked, but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing there. 'Peace be with you,' he said. Then he looks at Thomas and says, 'Hey, put your fingers here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound of my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe.'"
And Thomas shouted: "My Lord and my God."
Jesus came to Thomas and gave Thomas exactly what he needed. How did Jesus respond to a doubter? He didn't stand at a distance. He came close. This proves that God is not distant in your doubts.
Jesus is not a standoff savior. He's willing to be touched. If he feels far away, reach out to him—because he's reaching out for you. You can ask questions. You can take your frustrations to him. You can wrestle with him. You can complain. You can tell him that you don't understand. Thomas asked questions. Thomas needed answers. Thomas got answers. And what did he do? He served Jesus faithfully.
Tradition tells us that Thomas preached Jesus in India and was eventually martyred there around 72 AD. He was driven a stake through his stomach because he would not surrender the Lordship of Christ. This proves to us: when you have questions, when you have doubts, your doubts don't disqualify your faith.
Your faith is a journey, never a destination. At some point in your life or the life of someone you know, there will be a question, a doubt, a moment of insecurity, a desire for answers. Your spiritual enemy, the devil, will try to use your doubt to drive you away from God. He'll tell you: "You're not a real believer. You don't have perfect faith. This stuff's not real. Church doesn't care about you. God's not involved in your life. He's not good. He doesn't love you. He hasn't forgiven you. You've been too bad, too filthy. After what you said, what you did, what you think, how you act—he doesn't love you."
But God can use your doubt to draw you to himself.
It was only about three years ago when I was about to preach. I was standing right here on song number two, trying to worship, and I was feeling nothing. All of a sudden, panic came over me. What if this isn't real? What if it's just emotional? What if it's a crutch? What if you die and go back to the ground? I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding. I started shaking. Tears came. I looked at the exit sign and thought, "Maybe I can just escape." I'm minutes away from preaching, overwhelmed with doubt.
I sat down and prayed, "God, if you're there, show me something."
And I had a vision. It wasn't weird—it was very normal. I saw myself back in college, reading in the gospels for the first time about Jesus. I'd never really understood this Jesus who loved people as broken as me. I remembered reading, "By grace through faith you're made right with God." The moment I thought the word "faith," I understood: it takes faith. It's always going to take faith.
If there's any proof at all, what Jesus did in me is proof. I was lost, and then I was different. Faith. I have faith to believe. I discovered that faith is not the absence of doubt. But faith is the means to push through doubt.
Scripture says in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." When you're in a valley, what do you do? You get through it. You keep walking. You don't stay in the valley.
You may be in the valley of the shadow of doubt right now. If you are, don't let doubt be your dead end. If you're in the valley of the shadow of doubt, you just keep on walking. You keep showing back up. You keep asking questions and trying to trust God. You don't have to have faultless faith—you just have to have a little bit of faith.
Come to Jesus. If you're in the middle of the valley of the shadow of doubt, keep on walking toward Jesus. Because faith is a journey, not a destination.
Listen to me: If you have your doubts, come to Jesus. If you're struggling, come to Jesus. If you've got questions, bring them to Jesus. If you've got sexual baggage, take it to Jesus. If you've got secret addictions you can't overcome, take them to Jesus. If you see something in life that doesn't seem fair and you wonder why, take your burdens and hurts to Jesus. Cast your cares upon him because he cares for you. If you've got church hurts, take them to Jesus.
Today, wherever you're watching, I want to invite people to come to Jesus. If you're in the middle of the valley of the shadow of doubt, just keep on walking toward Jesus. Come to Jesus as you are.
I know there are those of you whose life feels wrecked. You feel left out, overlooked, alone, broken, ashamed. You've tried to heal from sin and you're back in it. You feel guilty for what you did, where you were, how you've acted. Maybe you've even tried to be good enough for God. But the truth is, we simply are not designed on our own to ever be good enough for God.
But the gospel—the good news—is so good. The bad news is bad: we've all sinned, we've all fallen short. But the good news is that our God is so amazing that he became one of us in the person of his Son, Jesus. Born of a virgin. Living without sin. Jesus was the Lamb of God, perfect in every way, without sin, so he could become sin—the perfect sacrifice so that we could be forgiven.
He died in our place on a cross. And three days later, by the power of our good God, the stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. Jesus was not there. Death, hell, and the grave were defeated.
Therefore, if anyone—and this includes you, no matter how dark your life is, no matter how bad you've been—anyone who calls on that name, the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, your sins would be forgiven and you would be made new.
You may have questions. Come to him. You may have doubts. Still come. You may have insecurities. Come. You may have brokenness. Come. Your life may be a mess. Come to him as you are and call on his name. When you do, he'll enter your life, forgive your sin, and make you new.
Today, wherever you're watching, if you know you need his forgiveness, if you need his grace and mercy, just come to Jesus. The moment you call out to him, he forgives your sins.
This is not a religious decision where you're just joining a church. Today, we're making a spiritual decision. We're stepping away from the old life, from our sin. We're stepping toward Jesus. By grace you're saved through faith. You believe he is the Son of God. He will forgive you. You are new. The old is gone. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will dwell within you.
Wherever you're watching from today, those who say, "I need it. I want it. I'm ready. I'll walk away from the past. I give my life to Jesus"—lift your hands high now.
Online, type it in the chat: "I'm giving my life to Jesus."
Wherever you're watching, will you pray aloud with me?
Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. I put my faith in Jesus, in his work. Change me. Fill me with your spirit so I could follow you. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. In Jesus' name, I pray.
Celebrate the goodness and power of our God.
