Doubts Are Not Unbelief

Do Christians doubt what they believe? Is doubt the same as not believing at all? Will we Christians ever come to the place where all doubts disappear? In order to deal with these questions I revisit the brief story of the Apostle Thomas, about whom I wrote a year ago. He is called Doubting Thomas with good reason.

Thomas insisted on tangible proof of Jesus' resurrection. Unless he could see and touch the mark of the nails that bound Jesus to his cross and place his hand into his side where the Roman soldier had driven the spear, he would never believe (John 20:25).

When Jesus appeared eight days later and permitted Thomas to do what he demanded, the Lord said to him, "Do not disbelieve, but believe" (John 20:27). And he did. He answered Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

So back to my question. Are doubts a form of unbelief? And what exactly are we doing when we struggle with doubts? Let's look at some places in the Bible where the actual doubt word is used.

When Joseph's jealous brothers sold him into slavery they needed to convince their father that he was dead, killed and devoured by a wild beast. So they brought Jacob a bloody robe and asked him if this was his son's robe or not? Jacob concluded that it was indeed Joseph's robe and said—according to most translations—"Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces" (Genesis 37:33).  The interesting thing is that the Hebrew text doesn't use a word for doubt. The text repeats the 'torn to pieces' verb twice, intensifying it. This is a way of saying that Jacob believed without doubt that Joseph was dead.

In Matthew's Gospel we read of Peter walking on the water with Jesus in the midst of a raging storm on the inland Sea of Galilee. "But when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink cried out, 'Lord, save me.'" Jesus did of course give Peter his hand, but he also rebuked him, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:30-31). The Greek verb here is distazoh, a verb that only occurs one more time in the Bible, at the very end of Matthew's Gospel.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. - Mat 28:16-17 ESV

From this brief study I conclude that there are times when you are so convinced by the evidence that you have absolutely no doubt in your mind and heart. Such was the case of Jacob as he looked upon his son's bloody tunic. He was without doubt. He truly believed that Joseph was dead.

But you can and will have doubts even while you have faith. Peter believed that he saw Jesus out there and that Jesus was indeed walking on the waves. That was why Peter was able, at least for some seconds, to  accept Jesus' invitation to join him and actually walk on the water. However, he took his eyes off Jesus to focus instead upon the wind and the waves. At that moment his experience as a fisherman took over. Walking on water was simply not possible. He was going to drown.

Some of Jesus' disciples were still struggling with the reality of Jesus' resurrection and its implications some 40 days after Easter Sunday. They were unable to absorb and integrate that event into their belief systems. How could all this be so? They believed. They had seen him, heard and talked with him. And they did after all go to Galilee as Jesus had directed. They did kneel before him in worship and adoration. But they had doubts.

And so do we all. It is not wrong or evil or even sinful to have doubts. Jesus our Lord understands this. Whatever your doubts are, admit them. Place them before him as you pray to him. Search your Bible. Open yourself to the guiding of his Spirit. Go to your pastor or a trusted friend in the faith. Let them help you. You will receive help. You will find peace. Jesus promises,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Mat 11:28 ESV