Doubt

When I was younger and went to the doctor, my mom made me promise to tell the doctor the truth about every symptom that was showing. I hated showing the doctor the places that hurt. It was easier to pretend I was fine. I felt weak and exposed. Yet, it was there where healing happened. The doctor could only provide a prescription when he knew the problem. For many of us, our prayers are polite and stay at the dinner table. We thank God publicly, but privately we wonder why our parents won’t stop fighting, why no one is reaching out to us, why our mom got sick, why He let them leave, or why He made you this way. We’re like sick patients who don’t tell the doctor what’s wrong.

Do you have doubts? Let Him know. Do you have questions? Bring them before Him. He can only heal what you let Him touch. He’s the great physician who came for the sick. We need to point to the problem in prayer and let Him provide the prescription of Himself. You’ll find He is the answer for every ailment, the solution for every sickness. Habakkuk dared to do this. He took his question of God’s goodness directly to the throne. He asked how God could allow such evil to take place in His day. What He got in return was the Lord Himself—a God who empathized with Him and comforted Him with the promise that He was working all things to deliver mercy to the world. This enabled him to live by faith and not by sight in the midst of chaos. 

There’s no one who doubted the goodness of God more than the disciples. Their leader crucified. Their hero crushed. Their hope destroyed. Their plans disrupted. Yet, it was not in spite of God’s goodness, but because of God’s goodness that this took place. The only one who could’ve chosen not to suffer decided to embrace it. 

While pain might be your reality, so is His mercy. His goodness cannot be denied, and neither can His love. The God who turned a crucifixion into the resurrection is surely using your pain for His purpose. In the middle of your mess and on your darkest day, take joy in your Savior who suffered for you. He turns darkness into light.  

Response

What parts of your heart have you kept hidden from God?

Where do you doubt the goodness of God?