WHEN WE DOUBT GOD 

MATT. 13:22-33 

          When Jesus says to Peter “Wherefore did you doubt” what is he asking?  He knows that Peter looked at the tossing sea and became fearful.  He is asking Peter, why you chose at that moment to consider the condition of the sea.  You see the waves were already tossing and the sea was troubled before Peter stepped out of the boat.  But from the boat, Peter came to the conclusion that it really was Jesus and that he had the situation well under control.  But in the midst of the storm, Peter lost sight of Jesus and having lost sight of his foundation, he had nothing upon which to stand and he began to sink.

          But we cannot think of criticizing Peter.  For we all know that resisting the urge to doubt God is not easy.  We often run into situations which we know that only God can fix but we still wonder if and when He will fix them.  Even when we have the promise of God we sometimes find it hard to trust God’s method of delivering us.  This implies that we doubt God’s knowledge of what is best for us and His desire to give us the best. 

What happens when we doubt God?  When we doubt God we:

1.     Question His ability or His omnipotence.

GEN. 18:9-15 – In laughing at the idea of having a child in her old age, Sarah was questioning God’s power over the forces of nature.  But the Lord asked Sarah “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”  Sarah did not have to wonder about the will of God, but she did question His ability.  Sometimes the Lord asks us to step out into situations and circumstances that seem insurmountable.  When we are sure of God’s will, hesitation to move at His command may indicate that we are questioning His ability.

2.     When we doubt God, we look for excuses not to abbey Him.

EX. 3:7-12, 4:1, 10-13 – Moses says first “what authority do I have to tell Pharaoh what to do?”  He then says “the Israelites will not listen to me.”  Finally he says, “I can’t talk right.”  In essence, with all three of these excuses, Moses is saying, “I am not worthy; you have picked the wrong person.”  We often feel inadequate to do many of the things that God directs us to do.  In not understanding why He selected us for the task, we doubt His omniscience and offer Him excuses, for why He should not have chosen us.

JUDGES 6:11-16 – Gideon’s excuse is “I’m poor and I have no statue in the community”.  But statue and finances were not import in accomplishing the task assigned by God.

JERM. 1:6 – Jeremiah said “I can’t be a prophet.  I am not old enough.”

          All of these are excuses.  God knew the abilities and disabilities of each person before he called them to the task.  But their insecurities led them to doubt God’s wisdom in selecting them and to offer up excuses for whey they were wrong for the task.  What excuses do we offer?  And what are we saying to God when we off Him excuses?

3.     When we doubt God we sometimes take matters into our own hands and make bad choices.

GENESIS 16:1-6 - Sarah, doubting God’s ability to fulfill His promise to Abraham, decided to help God out.  She gave Hagar her slave to Abraham to mother him a child.  Once Hagar got pregnant, she began to pick at Sarah and eventually Sarah put her out.  This began the war between the Israelites and the Arabs.  And that war is still being fought to this day.

NUMBERS 13:1-2 (On your own go back and read Numbers chapters 13 and 14) – God gave them Canaan but they doubted God’s ability to deliver the land into their hands.  They decided not to go, provoked God and caused Him to place on them a judgment of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  During these 40 years of wandering almost a whole generation of Israelites died.

4.     When we doubt God we become fearful.

NUMBERS 13:26-33; NUMBERS 14:6-9 – Though God had given them the land, they were too afraid to go in and possess it.  Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage them by reminding them that God was on their side, but the circumstances seemed larger than God.

MARK 4:35-41 – The disciples forgot that Jesus had said they were to pass over to the other side.  In the midst of the storm, the threat of possible death caused them to lose focus on who Jesus was.  They were terrified.  Jesus questioned their fear and their faith.  He had said that they were to going to the other side.

On your own go back and read I Kings Chapters 18 and 19.  Elijah believed God to withhold the rain.  He believed God would show himself in a big way on Mount Carmel.  He believed it was God’s will for him to kill the prophets of baal, but he did not believe that God would protect him from Jezebel.  He ran from her, fearing for his life.

          Many times we are afraid to tackle difficult situations.  We know that God is able to deliver us and bring us out victoriously, but we wonder if He will.  We doubt God’s actions on our behalf and the more we doubt, the more fearful we become.

5.     When we doubt God, we will sometimes settle for 2^nd best.

EXODUS 14:10-12 – When they realized that Pharaoh was pursuing them and would try to kill them, freedom became less important and they looked favorably at Egypt.  They saw no way out and doubted God; believing that He had brought them into the wilderness to die.

6.     When we doubt God we call God a liar

I JOHN 5:10- When we doubt God we are saying that He cannot be trusted to keep His word.

7.     When we doubt God we displease Him

HEBREWS 11:6 – In order to please God we must act in faith toward Him.

How then can we act in faith and overcome the urge to doubt God?

ROMANS 4:3, 17-21

v    Abraham did not look at the circumstances.

v    He knew what God had promised, i.e., he knew God’s will in the matter.  It is hard not to doubt when you are not sure that you will be acting in the will of God.

v    He knew that God was able.  Somewhere in his past Abraham had developed a picture of God as one who was able to keep His promises.