Simply this: Put your faith in Christ, and keep your focus on Him as He is revealed in the pages of the Bible. In fact, he is a terrified man. And yet, the question I am asked most often is, “how do you know?”. Contact Us. By now, you must be thinking that Gideon is quite a man of faith. I want to believe fully and not have these doubts. On the other hand, the honest skeptic will change, when presented with the facts. For that, I propose we look at one of my favorite Bible stories: Gideon. But when he saw Christ, his doubts vanished and he immediately exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Then take time every day to pray, and to read His Word, the Bible. Abraham doubted he would have a child. Adam and Eve doubted the consequences God had set for doing bad. That story told me that Jesus wanted me to be honest about my doubts. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I'm a skeptic by temperament. It is how we respond to our doubt that separates people. Read it. Is that realistic? I know my own selfishness and pride and anger. No. Ask God to open your mind to understand it. Indeed, we do have doubts but we don't let the doubts take our eyes off of the prize which is God. It is time to admit that following God does not remove all of our doubts. In John 6:60, many of those who had followed Jesus turned away when He taught some hard things. Permissions But I'm just always, I'm the kind of person that doubts … So from here, God essentially tells Gideon that this whole problem is going to be solved because God will send Gideon to make the devastation stop. Don't ignore it. Toll Free: 1-877-247-2426. Of course, God obliges and waits for Gideon to do so. It’s disturbing to hear that someone who grew up in the same church as you and attended all of the same Bible studies and prayed all of the same prayers is either doubting God or thinking of leaving the faith altogether. The natural mind tends to doubt and fear and question what the Bible says rather than simply believe. Doubt can be a purifying force, challenging us and keeping us honest. It isn’t realistic because our Bible is one long story of people doubting. I have heard messages about how God relieves our fears and burdens. The Midianites owned the Israelites during that time. God bless you. The Israelites had done something really bad apparently because it tells us that they were handed over to the Midianites for 7 years. Let me just describe my experience a little bit so that maybe the reader or listener will be able to handle his own doubts. The very first act of the serpent (Lucifer) in the Garden of Eden was to cast doubt upon God’s Word to Adam by regurgitating those infamous words, ’ Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3). I would encourage you to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. Because, I know who I am. There is room within me to experience greater belief, but my doubts sometimes threaten to swallow me up.” They are not the same thing. How do I know for sure? I always wanted to believe in God. He takes all those who get on their knees to drink and sends them home, keeping those who cup their hands instead. 22,000 men left and went home on the spot. After the resurrection, Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, had the same facts the other disciples did, but unlike them he refused at first to believe. As I said in my last post, we will never have every answer in life. It’s easy to be dismissive toward those who have doubts because we really, really don’t want to have the same problems. It's normal that you have doubts since there is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any God, particularly the God of Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Gideon’s response? I want you to know today the truth about great people: Great people don’t let doubt stop them from doing. ... even amid our doubts and darkness we can show forth God’s presence through faithful living,” writes Copan. I am the least important person from the least important tribe.” It sounds a lot like David in the Goliath story, right? So now Gideon is ready for battle. I'm learning to be okay with that. It is time for us to accept that doubts will come and are a natural part of faith. He should commit to a local body of believers to be fed by biblical preaching and have fellowship with like-minded believers. Try to remain neutral and confront all information head on. Sure, I would love to see every Christian have faith without ever doubting. ©2021 BGEA God tells Gideon he has too many men. Doubt is not inherently a bad thing. Our feelings come and go—but the facts remain the same. Gideon tells his men that anyone who is scared can go home. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. One of the reasons I know this is because I’ve seen people with more reason than me to doubt his goodness hold onto faith. 2) Many people think doubt is unforgivable, but it isn’t. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. (Topic ID: 1545373) It is hard for me to believe that God really and truly sees me and loves me. Ask yourself these questions. Read the topic about I want to believe in God, but I just can't on MyAnimeList, and join in the discussion on the largest online anime and manga database in the world! I am convinced that the Christians with the deepest most meaningful faith and belief in God, have some of the deepest and most profound questions and doubts about faith as well. Now, Gideon is certainly no one special. That makes doubt #6 for those counting along. Gideon’s response is what most of us would have responded: “God, all this bad stuff has been happening. You can be a full-fledged Christian without having to feel like every single matter of faith and life has been 100% absolutely settled in your life. Let it confirm or deny your beliefs. I have been a Christian for a while now and I do believe God is real but for some reason I have this feeling that he's not listening. Atheism requires one thing of you. Moses doubted he could free the Israelites. God does that too. Needless to say, I have heard many messages on having faith that can move mountains. Thomas still followed Jesus with all his heart despite his doubts. ( Log Out /  Unbelief refers to a willful refusal to believe, while doubt refers to inner uncertainty. That is because they do not want to believe. We have to trust God, even when we don’t understand. So to answer my question early, YES, you can follow God and still have doubts. The Meaning of ‘Lord, I Believe; Help My Unbelief’ in Mark 9:24 What the man says here can sound contradictory. Don’t dismiss your objections easily, *and* don’t dismiss God easily. So he asks God to flip the scenario this time: make the ground wet and the fleece dry. But first, start by ignoring or forgetting everything you have been told about God/god. Whenever they planted, the Midianites would steal it. I have attended many church services and conferences in the seven and a half years I have been a Christ-follower. You can be heaven bound and still have some uncertainty about some theological issues. Promises, “ Lord, I would love to see every Christian have faith to believe God. 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