Articles

Doubt Drives Us Deeper: Part 1

‘For I was envious of the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.’

Psalm 73: 3-5

Disappointment drives us to doubt.

We see those who are arrogant, proud, and dishonest, who mock God and have little concern for others apparently doing quite well for themselves. Unlike the Psalmist, in American culture we’re unlikely to envy the ‘fat and sleek’ bodies of the wicked. But we too may envy what we perceive as their prosperity. We’re tempted to say:

Come on, God, you can do better than this! They’re doing better than me, but they don’t give a rip about you. If you’re so good, then why am I not doing better?  

Have you ever said these things to yourself?

. . . I serve my spouse, I cater to his or her every need, and yet I get less back in terms of dignity and love than nearly every marriage in the neighborhood…

. . . I try to honor the Lord with my job, and I make fewer sales and less in commissions than people who cut corners and fabricate the truth…

. . . I pray and I keep myself pure, and yet I’m still stuck in this singleness thing, while my friends without my Christian ‘hang-ups’ seem to connect with others frequently and happily…

. . . I’ve busted my rear my whole life to achieve my dreams, and I’ve fallen so far short of them, while others surpass their dreams with ease…

. . . I give more time to service in ministry than anyone else I know at my stage of life, but I feel no fulfillment at the end of the day, only a nagging dread of more obligations for which I will be asked to volunteer again…

This sort of doubt is completely natural when we face disappointment!

In the next few posts, I want to talk about why we shouldn’t be afraid of expressing these doubts, and why these doubts can actually lead us closer to God’s view of reality.

Disappointment and doubt can actually be good things . . .

to be continued…