Hope and doubt, faith and fear - Fraser Leach

If doubt has its cousin fear, then hope has its cousin faith.

They work together.

Doubt and fear tend to creep in unannounced, trying to disrupt and cause havoc.

Hope and faith, on the other hand, have to be found and sought out. But they are reliable and dependable. They are always there for you when you turn to them.

 Hebrews 11 v.1 tells us that:- ‘faith is the confidence in (or the substance of) things hoped for, and the assurance about what we do not see’.

It therefore follows that fear can be the substance of what we doubt!

We hope and that leads to faith, but we can doubt and that leads to fear. If doubt delays then hope inspires. That then either leads to fear which paralyses or faith which produces.

Faith and hope are action.

Doubt and fear are inaction.

In James 1 v.5-9, James tells us, in the context of asking for wisdom that we are not to doubt, because God is a generous giver and if we do doubt, then we can expect to receive nothing.

The problem with these verses is that we can look at them superficially and decide there must not be a trace of doubt in our mind otherwise we wont receive, and therefore if we don’t it’s our fault. Or perhaps we feel that God weighs us up as to how much doubt there is and if there is too much he withholds from us.

The truth is we all face situations with a mixture of hope and doubt to varying degrees.

It is not a case of the intensity of our belief, of gritting our teeth and saying ‘I really do believe’.

Remember Jesus said, ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say to this mountain “move “ and it will move. Nothing is impossible for you’. -Matthew 17 v.20

The man whose son had been healed said ‘I do believe, help me in my unbelief’     -Mark 9 v.24

God is not trying to punish you in some way for your lack of belief or doubt. The reason James appears to make the choice so binary- doubt and don’t receive, believe and receive- is that in the end it depends on what we do.

In the end either hope and belief wins the day and we go for it. Or doubt and fear does and we do nothing. We hope the chair will support us when we sit on it. BUT we won’t know and actually receive the benefits of it until we actually put that hope into action and actually sit on it.

James is saying that you can’t expect to receive wisdom from God if you don’t do anything about it.

James reiterates this when he says later on that we need not only to listen to the word but also do what it says, comparing someone who just listens to a person who looks at themselves in the mirror and then immediately forgets what they look like (James 1 v.22-24). And in James 2 v.17 he says that ‘faith without works is dead’.

Also, the writer to the Hebrews says,

‘Without faith it is impossible to please God (NOT judgemental here). For anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and he rewards those who earnestly seek him’

The earnestly seeking is despite any doubts you or I may have.

Recently I have found doubts coming in. And these doubts have been fuelled by things I’ve read, watched on TV etc. I’ve had to make the conscious decision to think about/feed on the good things (as it says in Phil 4 v.8) for those doubts to subside.

Other scriptures, far from judging those who doubt, show God’s grace. Jude 22 says ‘Be merciful to those who doubt’. Jesus also helped, not judged, Thomas in his doubting- John 20 v.24-27- and in fact did the same thing for all the disciples, both those on the road to Emmaus and the 11 who were shut away (see Luke 24). Jesus still saved Peter when he doubted whilst walking on the water (Matthew 14 v. 29-31) and he still included those who doubted when he gave the great commission (Matthew 28 v.17-20)

So don’t doubt, saying you’re not good enough. God’s love accepts you in whatever place you are at.

1 John 4 v.16-18 tells us that God is love and his perfect love drives out fear, because fear is to do with judgement. In his perfect love we do not face judgement, only his grace, therefore we do not need to fear and doubt.

Jesus told the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21 v.28-32) one of which promised to work in the vineyard but never did, the other said no but then changed his mind and went, he was the one who received from God.

Don’t just try and put on a brave face on it and say we’re OK. Admit when you’re struggling what your doubts and fears are, and do something about it --> come to God and receive.