Articles

Doubt Drives Us Deeper: Part 3

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

Psalm 73:16-17

In a previous post, we discussed how disappointment drives us to doubt the goodness of God. Yet we also observed that expressing that doubt is Biblical.

Doubting doesn’t actually drive us away from God. In fact, often doubt can drive us deeper into God’s reality. How?

Well, at least for me, doubt makes me ask big questions. It makes me question earth’s reality. So, doubt drives me to the only one who can answer my questions, a big God with a new reality.

When my soul was embittered,

    when I was pricked in heart,

I was brutish and ignorant;

    I was like a beast toward you.

Psalm 73:21-22

When my hopes were rooted in this world, I was no better than an animal, a beast which can’t see God’s reality. My reality was pinned to the reality of earth, where it seems as though everyone is either prey or a predator, a victim or a conqueror, a jackrabbit or a coyote, with fear in his or her eyes: will I be eaten today? will I eat today? My reality was one in which everyone is trying to stock up on security and prosperity that will not last.

However, this isn’t reality as God sees it! In fact, earth’s reality is being overturned by God’s reality, and it ultimately will be, for eternity.

In the eternal reality, the Christian is already filled with all of the fullness of God – he already has the depths of his love and the power of his Spirit, and he can never lose it, for all of time. The prosperity of the wicked it not eternal, it’s fleeting. But God’s Kingdom is forever.

How do we see God’s reality?

Often, it’s through doubt. When we doubt the reality of this transient world, our hearts become receptive. Then, God can reveal to us, through his word, his eternal reality: his glory.

Don’t be afraid of doubt. Let it drive you to God. Let it drive you back to the sanctuary of God. Let it drive you to church.

When you walk through those doors, you leave one reality, and enter another. At least for a moment, you see what lasts forever.

It’s like awakening from a dream.

to be continued…