Overcoming Doubt

'...If you have faith and do not doubt...' Matthew 21:21 NIV


Doubt is a doorway through which Satan enters your life. It causes the ‘fight of faith’ to become the ‘flight of faith’. When fear, confusion, discouragement and despair take up residence within you, they rob you of confidence, joy and peace. But isn’t doubting just human? Of course it is and it’s also Satan’s ploy! ‘…whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given…’ (1 John 5:10 NIV) Your doubts reveal a lack of confidence in what God says. So how can you stop doubting? The same way you deal with other sin—by acknowledging you have a problem and doing something about it. Doubt cannot be conquered by reason or even resistance; it will only submit to complete relinquishment. Trying to overcome your doubts one by one is like an alcoholic trying to reduce his or her alcohol intake one drink at a time. It doesn’t work. The solution is two–fold. (1) It begins with a once–for–all decision. It calls for a total relinquishing of your right to doubt anything God promised. It’s saying, ‘From now on, I will not doubt God!’ It’s believing that when you surrender a thing to Him, He takes it and deals with it. (2) By faith declare, ‘Lord, I absolutely trust Your every Word!’ Will doubt come knocking again at your door? Yes, but instead of letting it in, ‘...take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.’ (Ephesians 6:16 NIV) Don’t fret, wrestle, or reason with your doubts. Instead, repeat your Scriptural declaration of faith, disregard your feelings, and trust God to do what He says. You are Loved!