READ: JAMES
1:5-8
When you
start out in faith but at some point begin to waver and nurse feelings of
uncertainty, this is doubt. Doubt renders you double minded thereby making your
ways unstable. Our reading also says that those who doubt will not get anything
from God.
In Matthew 14:22-32, the disciples were in a boat one night in the midst of a storm. Jesus walked on water towards them. When Peter was assured it was Jesus, he asked if he too could walk on water and Jesus asked him to come. He left the boat and stepped onto water. Surprisingly, it had solidified and so he looked to Jesus and kept walking towards him. But when he heard the roaring of the boisterous sea and saw the waves, he took his eyes off Jesus and fear struck him as it dawned on him that he was out on the open sea. Then he began to sink. When he cried out, the Lord asked why he had doubted. Jesus helped him and both of them walked back towards the boat, on the water!
When you doubt, you get into trouble. When you take your gaze off Jesus to look at the problem or mountain, you are likely to fall. You have been trusting God for a huge blessing. But at some point you felt the size of the blessing you were requesting was delaying its manifestation, so you switched to a smaller blessing. That is doubt. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ever ask him. Stay on in faith. That blessing will materialise.
Unbelief, on the other hand is total absence of faith. For instance the counsellor of the king of Samaria did not believe God could provide abundantly for them within 24 hours. His unbelief led to his death. Unbelief ties God’s hands from working as he desires. Matthew 13:54-58 says Jesus could not do many mighty works in his home town because of unbelief. Unbelief is an affront to the Trinity. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus when he saw their unbelief. Unbelief is a killer. Enemies could not stop the Israelites: unbelief did. Ask God to destroy doubt and unbelief in your life so that you can enter your rest in every area.
In Matthew 14:22-32, the disciples were in a boat one night in the midst of a storm. Jesus walked on water towards them. When Peter was assured it was Jesus, he asked if he too could walk on water and Jesus asked him to come. He left the boat and stepped onto water. Surprisingly, it had solidified and so he looked to Jesus and kept walking towards him. But when he heard the roaring of the boisterous sea and saw the waves, he took his eyes off Jesus and fear struck him as it dawned on him that he was out on the open sea. Then he began to sink. When he cried out, the Lord asked why he had doubted. Jesus helped him and both of them walked back towards the boat, on the water!
When you doubt, you get into trouble. When you take your gaze off Jesus to look at the problem or mountain, you are likely to fall. You have been trusting God for a huge blessing. But at some point you felt the size of the blessing you were requesting was delaying its manifestation, so you switched to a smaller blessing. That is doubt. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ever ask him. Stay on in faith. That blessing will materialise.
Unbelief, on the other hand is total absence of faith. For instance the counsellor of the king of Samaria did not believe God could provide abundantly for them within 24 hours. His unbelief led to his death. Unbelief ties God’s hands from working as he desires. Matthew 13:54-58 says Jesus could not do many mighty works in his home town because of unbelief. Unbelief is an affront to the Trinity. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus when he saw their unbelief. Unbelief is a killer. Enemies could not stop the Israelites: unbelief did. Ask God to destroy doubt and unbelief in your life so that you can enter your rest in every area.
MEMORIZE:
MATTHEW 13:58 –And he did not do many mighty works there because of their
unbelief.
