Doubt: The Death of Faith?

Introduction

I don't know if anyone has ever plainly said this to you, but it is okay to question God. However, there is a proper and improper way to field our concerns to God. We are going to attempt over the next two weeks to unpack this idea of doubt and questioning the will of God.

Have you ever been faced with an impossible situation? Unsure of how things would work out. It could be silly or serious. No matter the context or the severity we have all been faced with scenarios where we cannot see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

We tend to have two reactions. Either we panic and question everything, or we trust that everything will work out how it is suppose to.

How do you respond when things are uncertain? How do you respond when you dont know the answer? What is your response to God?

In the Bible, there are many accounts of when people were faced with uncertainty. They are many different reactions of those characters in the Bible. Tonight we are going to look at the wrong way to respond to questions and uncertainty.

Bible Passage

Context of the Spies report from the Promised Land

Numbers 14:1–4 NASB95

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:11–23 NASB95

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? “I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. “Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ “But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.

Negative Doubt Challenges God and His Character

It was not there fear at the idea of the stronger nations that lead them into sin. It was that they challenged God and the way He was doing things. They longed to go back to Egypt to die instead of trusting in Gods plans.

Both my parents were law enforcement officers, and they both did some time working in the jail system. Many criminals who had been in a long time and released, actually came back on purpose because they longed for prison. They rather have the structure, guaranteed meals, and freedom from personal vices than try to do all of things on their own. Some didn’t see this as a negative. However, this was such a sad truth. Imagine giving up your freedom at the first sign of hardship and skulking back to captivity.

You see the Israelites were doing the same thing. We do it as well. We cry that God would take us back to previous times instead of being willing to trust him in the present uncertainty. Our doubt becomes negative when we allow it to cause us to question God and who He is.

Negative Doubt Creeps In When We Forget

These are the same Israelites who saw God not just bring one plague but 10 plagues upon the strongest nation in the world. They not only saw this but were guided out by a pillar of fire. Not only did God guide them in a supernatural way, but he delivered them from the Egyptians by splitting a sea in front of them. What more could God show them to make them believe? They had forgotten the great things God had done and let their present circumstances cloud their view of God. Then the doubt creeped in and they gave themselves over to it.

However, we would never forget right?

Think of one of your favorite possessions. When did you receive it. Okay maybe you got that one right, but what about everything you own that is important to you. We forget all the time. I forget all the time. I had a similar thing happen with car troubles.

When we forget all God has done, it hardens our heart. It makes us doubt in the moment, but when we remember things change. We may not know how God will deliver us from that moment, but we know He will. We trust that He will work it out in His way and His timing. Those words HIS way and HIS timing are important to remember. We may not understand how he is working it out but we can still trust Him. We may not know when He is going to do it or why He is waiting, but we can still trust Him.

Negative Doubt and Faithlessness Leads to Consequences

There faithlessness was forgiven by God, but the Israelites still faced punishment. They were set to wander in the wilderness until everyone except Moses and his family and the two spies who gave a positive report were dead. This seems harsh right. Why is this God’s response?

There doubt was the problem but it wasn't in the way that you think. It is what they let their doubt do. They allowed it to lead them into questioning Gods character and His plan. They went against God boldly and even claimed that they no longer wanted His help. They turned their back on the very God that saved and delivered them. Of course, God had to punish them.

This is a warning to us. We should not let our doubts lead us into faithlessness or we will face consequences.

Conclusion

Guys I have been here.

Tell the story of growing up and being mad at God for the family he gave me.

I doubted God. I challenged Him and His plan. God had to get a hold of me and get my attention. I think because of this I suffered more than I needed to. I am warning you to not follow my example. be better than this

As we go through this series, I invite you to question God. I invite you to wrestle with Him like Jeff talked about on Sunday. However, I implore you to do it in a healthy way. We will talk more about this next week. However this week would you consider if you do this with God. If you doubt him in a negative way. Consider if you get mad when things don't go your way. Consider whether you have forgotten all the good He has done for you.