2024-02-18PM- When Doubt Creeps In

The speaker discusses doubt creeping into the lives of Christians and how it can be addressed. They mention scriptures about submitting to God, resisting the devil, and renewing the mind. They then talk about instances in the Bible where disciples faced storms and Jesus questioned their faith. The speaker emphasizes that God acknowledges and takes seriously the difficulties we face in life. They encourage listeners to trust in God's promises and remind them that He understands their struggles. The speaker concludes by urging everyone to worship God. I want to talk to you about something that was on my heart this week in prayer. And I just began to write stuff down for things that I believe somehow, somewhere needs to be addressed. And I believe that Satan has found a way, if he ain't got in our homes and in our church with sin or rebellion or something outward, doubt tends to creep into the life of the Christian from time to time. Questions begin to arise. It might be about the validity of the Bible. Questions might arise about, are we doing this right? Questions might arise, does it really take all that? And so doubt finds its way in and gets a foothold and begins to grow. But I want to read to you tonight just a few Scriptures here. James 4 and verse 7 says this, Submit yourselves therefore unto God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Ephesians 4 and 23 says be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And I love that, that you and I have opportunity that when things start getting low, we can get into a prayer closet and we can get renewed in the mind. Now there are several instances in the Scripture, in the Gospels, some of them telling the same story about the time that the disciples were on a ship and there came up a storm. And I want to read just a little bit here. The ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves. The wind was contrary. And when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, speaking of Peter. Another place says there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves. The disciples said, we perish. Another place says it was a great storm of wind. The waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. Another place says a storm of wind was on the lake and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy. And he arose filled with water and they were in jeopardy. And the Bible tells that there was a raging of the water. In every one of these instances, Jesus looks at His disciples and He says, what happened to your faith? What happened to your faith? Now the one thing I want to point out here is that the Bible does not bypass the fact that they were really in a storm. I mean, the Bible is not hiding it. He did not come to them at a time when somebody said something bad about them. Well, where's your faith? Get over it. No, in each of these instances we have a description. They were in the sea. They were tossed with waves. The wind was contrary. It was boisterous. There was a great tempest. The ship was covered with the waves. Disciples who were good shipmen, mariners, they knew the sea. They knew they were in so much trouble, they said, we perish. It was a great storm and it was filling up with water and they were in jeopardy. I want to tell you tonight that in the times of difficulty in your life, God is not minimizing your difficulty. We tend to do that sometimes. Oh, I'm sure this ain't no big deal to nobody else. And I don't know why it bothers me. God might write it down in the record. It was a pretty boisterous wind. You tried to hold up and you rode hard against it. But God acknowledges what you're facing tonight. In every instance, He didn't say, well, it was just dark, you know. No, it was a bad storm and it got them into the place that I don't know if we're going to survive this. But I like what Balaam told Balak, the king of Moab, when he got in a conversation with him. He said, hath he said, and shall he not do it? Had God said that He was going to take care of you and me, didn't He promise I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee? And if He has said it, shall He not do it? God is fully aware of what you're going through. And He doesn't minimize it. He doesn't call you petty for what you're going through. He takes it just as seriously as you do. And when He does, and when it's been enough, and when there's been enough fear, when there's been enough doubt, when there's been enough trouble, when there's been enough being upset, He steps up and He says, peace, be still. And when doubt comes in, it starts rocking the boat, and I think, well, we might be able to ride this out. And then you get to the place where you say, I just don't know. He understands it. He understands it. I'm talking to somebody tonight. He understands where you're struggling. And He's not telling you it's no big deal. No, the Bible records that was a big deal. He acknowledges what you're going through. It's very serious, but He wants you to know that He knows it. And He'll never leave you. Come on, Jameson, lead us in song tonight. Let's worship our God.