Don’t Worry, The Disciples Doubted Too!

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Don’t Worry, The Disciples Doubted Too!

Matthew 28:17 "When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.”

I saw the Verse of the day this morning, and it was Matthew 28:18-20 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is a great verse and the one I thought I would be talking about today.  However, when I read the whole section the verse above really stood out to me.  I find it interesting that it is the verse right before verses 18-20.  The Bible says that when the disciples saw Jesus, they worshiped him, but they doubted.  Then, in the very next line, Jesus sends them out to make disciples of all nations.

I think this is important for us to pay attention to because I think at times we feel like we are “less than” if we don’t believe or if we have doubts.  For instance, I have prayed for all sorts of miracles over the years.  Some, even though I know and believe without a shadow of a doubt that God can do it, I doubted that He would do it.  It is just not something I can picture, or I can wrap my head around.  For instance, I prayed for a friend of a friend who had ALS or  Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  This is a terrible disease that usually starts in the hands, feet, arms, or legs. Then it spreads to other parts of the body. Muscles get weaker as more nerve cells die. This eventually affects chewing, swallowing, speaking, and breathing. It is a scary disease.  I have had two friends for friends who have died from this.  I prayed for both of them a lot.  I knew God could do it, and yet I struggled to picture what that would look like.  I doubted He would do it.

When we know God can do something, and yet we also have doubt, it is not a great feeling.  However, I do suspect it is a normal feeling.  Our brains are limited, and God’s power is not.  We can only comprehend so much.  We tend to need to have experienced something similar before we are able to believe certain things.  For instance, we would never really believe that we could cash ourselves out of a store without a cashier, and now we have self-checkout lines.  I am betting that our grandparents would not have believed we would be using computers or cell phones as much as we are.  There are some things you just have to see to believe.  

Oftentimes times miracles are similar to this idea.  We might have head knowledge that Jesus is capable of all things, and yet we need to see it to believe it.  The apostles knew it was Jesus in front of them.  They saw his wounds, and in their hearts, they knew it was Jesus, and yet they doubted.  They doubted, not because they didn’t want to believe.  They doubted because they didn’t understand how this could happen.  Their beloved teacher and friend was crucified and now has returned to them.  How does one wrap their head around that?  How do we explain that to ourselves?  We are people who need explanations.  We tend to be people who need to see something to believe it.  They could see Jesus and His wounds, and yet their brain was still searching for an explanation that made sense to them.

This is why I believe so strongly in the power of witnessing our faith.  This is why I believe so strongly that our testimony, our story, has to be shared.  Our story can help build the faith of others.  I was just talking to a friend from class last night about the amazing miracle God did in my marriage.  She was fascinated, and I believe her faith in what God can do, grew because of what she was hearing, not because of anything I did but because of the way God’s love was manifested in my marriage.  You have been through things too.  Maybe you had a sibling die way before their time, maybe your parents got divorced, and you were traumatized, or maybe you lost a child or a spouse.  Maybe you were miraculously healed, or you saw someone else miraculously healed. Whatever your story is, it is unique to you and yet could also help others who are in a similar situation.

I heard this quote one time and felt as though the Holy Spirit said, this is for you.  The quote said, “Maybe you were given this mountain to climb so that others would know they could climb it too.” When I heard this, suddenly, my suffering, my trials, the impossibly hard time I was going through seemed to make a bit more sense.  It seemed to have a purpose. I was able to see how my suffering could be used for good.  However, if I don’t talk about my story if I don’t talk about the mountains that I have climbed, then others won’t know they can climb them too. I know I say this a lot, and that is because it is true.  We all have a story, and the world needs to hear our story.  

I have talked to many of you, and you have told me you don’t have a testimony.  Your life has been pretty normal. Nothing extraordinary has really happened.  First, God is in the normal too.  Second, something that seems completely ordinary to you might be difficult for someone else. When I witnessed the births of my children, there was nothing spectacular about them, and yet someone who is pregnant and about to give birth in another country could be listening.  She might hear my testimony, see that I did it and my baby was okay, and it might help ease her worry a little.  Someone might have heard about how my son Noah was in the NICU for a bit, and yet he was perfectly fine afterward and realized that their baby could be fine too.  You never know what other people need to hear.

The verse says, “When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.” I have certainly doubted, and I bet you have too. I love how God puts in the Bible so many examples of how human and normal the disciples were. They were ordinary human beings whom Jesus took under His wing and helped them become extraordinary.  The disciples questioned Jesus. They didn’t understand all He said. They doubted.  This is normal.  You are not “less than” if you doubt.  You are actually right alongside all of us.  We all doubt at times.

There are a few things that can help us doubt less.  The first is to read, watch, and hear as much as possible about the thing we are struggling to believe.  So, if we struggle to believe that God is still healing today, do a  search about healing testimonies online.  Read books about healing.  If you are struggling to believe God will help you in your circumstances, then read testimonies about how He has helped others in similar circumstances.  Another thing we can do, actually the first thing we should do, is bring our doubt to God.  Ask God to teach us. Ask Him to show us what we need to see.  We can even ask God to change our hearts, to change our minds.  We can let Him know we want to believe. We just don’t know how.  Whenever I am praying for something that I can’t really wrap my head around, I always end my prayer with I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.  

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect.  He is God. He knows we will mess up and will not get it right much of the time, and yet I believe He loves when we come to Him with our weaknesses and ask Him for help.  I believe it makes Him smile when we finally realize we need Him to do all things.  Yes, there are things we can do on our own, and yet even those things would be done better if we invited the Lord into them and partnered with Him to do them.  What if we started our day with a simple sentence, “Lord, I want to partner with you today in all that I do” I truly wonder how different our days would be.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you, and we want to believe in all the miraculous things you do.  We believe, Lord, help our unbelief.  Dad, you know what, in particular, each one of us is struggling to believe today.  We ask that you show us one thing that can help deepen our belief. Show us how to build up our trust and our belief.  Help us not to doubt.  Lord, give us a renewal of the mind so we can think more like you and less like the world. You are so amazing, and we want to be more and more like you with each passing day.  Help us, Lord!  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I wanted to address something today that will probably come up for many of us.  You might hear me talk about the retreat, and it sounds fun and like something you would like to go to, and then there is a voice in your head telling you, you won’t know anyone, you aren’t holy enough to go, you would be alone, you would be out of place, they would see right away you don’t know as much, you don’t pray as well, you are too busy, you can’t leave your kids or your husband for a few days.  Guess what, we are all thinking the same thing, and those thoughts are not from God.  That is the enemy trying to convince you that you shouldn’t go.  Do you know why he is doing that?  Because He knows how good going on a retreat is for you spiritually and emotionally, and he doesn’t want that growth for you. He doesn’t want you to grow closer to the Lord.  I know it can be hard to do something by yourself and doubly hard to do something new.  The first retreat I went to, I went all alone, and it was in a foreign country I had only lived for a few months.  I pushed through all the obstacles to get there, and it was an amazing retreat and helped put me on the path I am on.  If you are considering coming to the retreat, I ask you to push past the fear and the doubts and just sign up.  You will not be sorry you came, I promise you that much. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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