Faith Over FearSample

Day 4

If we are going to step firmly into faith, we need to learn to combat doubt. We can ask God for anything, but in order to receive from Him, we have to remove doubt from our hearts. James 1:6 declares, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” That word doubt simply means to differ. 

In order to overcome doubt, we have to choose to agree with God’s Word even when what we see around us may make us want to differ.

When we see chaos all around, instead of siding with the confusion, we can agree with Mark 4:39 ,and say, “Peace, be still,” expecting calm to come. When we feel anxiety about what’s going on in our world, we can instead side with I Peter 5:7 and cast all of our care upon Him, knowing that He cares for us. When we face fears of lack, we can remember from Philippians 4:19 how our God will supply ALL of our needs. 

Mark 9 shares the story of a desperate man who brought his son to Jesus. The little boy needed to be set free. The father said, “Jesus help us, if you can.” Jesus responded, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ anything is possible to them that believe.” The father then cried out, “I believe, please help my unbelief.” 

Obviously, the man knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was able to help them, otherwise he would not have brought his son to Him. However, in the moment, the magnitude of his need overrode his faith in Jesus. Once he recognized that doubt had crept in, he did the smartest thing possible. He asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief.

We can probably identify with this father. We believe that Jesus can do anything, but in a moment of weakness, the enormity of what we face causes us to doubt His ability in our lives. The good news is, we too are able to cry out to Jesus, “Help my unbelief!” He will help us in our time of need.

We don’t have to understand how God is going to come through for us in order to believe that He will. Once we remove the doubt, our faith can go to a whole new level.