Room For DoubtSampel

Get Out of Your Head

For me, doubt can be a serious head trip. It’s easy to get stuck in my mind, to live only in my thoughts instead of the real world. Some of Luther’s tactics for dealing with doubt have helped me. Exercise helps me get out of my head. I know it sounds silly, but to do something physical helps me deal with doubt. I picked up surfing years ago, and I find it very therapeutic. I don’t have time to doubt when I’m worrying about drowning or getting eaten by a shark. Sharks and the waves are more pressing issues than the doubts floating through my brain when I am in the ocean. I also surf with friends, which builds a sense of community. I receive great joy from just being in God’s creation, watching the sunrise, and catching a wave now and then. In the sea, I feel just how small I am and how powerful God is.

A lot of doubters get stuck indoors and inside their heads. I think it’s healthy to get outside and allow God to speak to you through nature. Psalm 19 talks about how the created world constantly communicates the character and nature of God:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Nature is a great teacher. If you doubt, just getting outside every day helps you to get outside your head. Take a walk. Ride a bike. Go for a swim. But I’ve found a tactic even more elemental.

I have a friend from Mexico who was raised in a dirt-poor, single-parent family. Against the odds, he rose above his circumstances, got a degree, and worked himself into a fortune. But one day, gripped by worry and anxiety, he came home with the weight of the world on his shoulders. As he shared the story of his stress with his wife, their housekeeper overheard and interjected, “Mr. Allen, may I tell you what I do when I feel this way? I get down on my knees and just start to thank God for everything I can think of. And by the time I get off my knees, my worries are gone.” I found the simple benefit of this exercise too. When I feel overwhelmed by life, when the problems creep in, when I begin to doubt what God is doing or not doing, I get down on my knees and just start thanking Him. I thank Him for the bed I slept on. I thank Him for my cup of morning coffee. I thank Him that I have a job. I thank Him that I have two legs. I thank Him for all things in life. Staying thankful—and getting specific about it—helps me.