5. Ensign: But Some Doubted

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 27 June 2014

And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.

A few weeks ago, Matthew 28:17 that I quote above was part of our Gospel passage in Sunday worship. You may be more familiar with verses eighteen through twenty after that which contain Jesus' Great Commission to His disciples – essentially, go into all the world and preach the Good News – but reading verse seventeen in my devotion that day was quite an eye-opener. There is nothing wrong with doubting Who Jesus is.

You're reading that right. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DOUBTING WHO JESUS IS. But let's make sure we mean the same thing when we speak about doubt. The Oxford English Dictionary defines (a) doubt as a feeling of uncertainty of lack of conviction, whereas (to) doubt – the context in which the verse above uses that word – is to feel uncertain about, question the truth or fact of something, or disbelieve.

Now here's the caveat. There is nothing wrong with doubting Who Jesus IS, but the incompleteness of our belief is not to keep us from worship of Him as the Son of God and by extension God Himself. I think we would agree that the very nature of faith – Scripturally defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” – requires that we be lacking, or doubting, in something. Something that won't be fully corrected this side of heaven or hell.

I say heaven or hell because all our questions will be answered and all our doubts will one day be cleared up, so we won't need faith; it's just a question of the distance we'll be from God when they are. This side of heaven past which God dwells where Jesus sits on His right hand (as Stephen saw in Acts 7:56; check it out, “I see the heavens opened,” etc.) and back to Genesis 1:1 where God created the heaven and 1:8 God called the firmament Heaven, we are not commended for doubt, but it's no sin.

It's no sin to doubt, but it is a sin when we act on our doubt in the power of God. Consider Adam and Eve, who if they hadn't acted on what Satan said through the serpent in Eden (Genesis 3) would most likely have remained there. Consider Peter when Jesus saved him from drowning when he became afraid as the wind blew around him walking on the water at Jesus' bidding and he started to sink (Matthew 14) and consider you and me when we are really in a fix at home or work.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Another way to read “nothing wavering” in James 1:6 is not doubting. Where there is faith, there is not doubt. And as we see throughout God's Word and in our own lives, it's not always clear where we're faithful and where we're doubtful, even to ourselves. But we are, and it is clear to God Himself and He's promised He's going to make EVERYTHING clear when we are able to handle it! And to get a start on handling that takes careful study and even more careful living. It can be done.

 

 It can be done even when we doubt, David    

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.