so how does the virus of doubt infect us?...

well for one doubt often gains a foothold through our mind. often intellectual doubts come in through our mind.

we read the bible, put it down – wait a second! “am i to believe there are really things like angels and demons and satan and heaven and hell and that JESUS is really coming back? are these things credible?” doubts can come into our mind if we don’t know why we believe what we believe. if we don’t know why we believe it we’re a sucker to get hit with doubt.

like a friend comes up to you and says, “you’re a CHRISTian aren’t you? you believe that JESUS is GOD? why?” so you take out a bible and you’re going to show him some verses and he says, “you can’t trust that book! this is the twenty-first century! everybody knows that’s a book of mythology and legend and make believe and wishful thinking. you can’t believe in that. what makes you think that the bible is a trustworthy book that you can put your trust in?” you kind of stammer and say, “i just believe it, that’s all!” and then doubt begins to erode your faith. you begin to think, “maybe he’s right. maybe i have swallowed this JESUS thing hook, line and sinker! maybe i haven’t thought critically enough about it.” and those doubts begin to take a foothold if you don’t know why you believe that basic truth.

doubt can effect us if we don't know what we believe. often we have a misunderstanding about who GOD is and you have to review who GOD is. you may know a lot about the love and the forgiveness and the mercy of GOD. but if you don’t know anything about the righteousness and the holiness and the justice of GOD then you’re going to wonder why HE doesn’t do certain things that you think HE ought to do and why HE does do things that you think HE ought not to do. and doubts begin to come in because you don’t have a fully formed picture of who GOD is. the problem isn’t with GOD; it’s with our understanding of who HE is.

just a thought from the front porch…