My friend was recently fired from a job when his boss blamed him for a mistake the boss had made. He said to me, “All is good.” The next week his wife totaled one of their two cars. My friend said, “I trust God that everything will work out for the good.”
When we met for coffee, I asked how he was doing, and he snapped, “Of course I’m okay. I’m keeping a positive attitude. I have faith.” The thing was, he didn’t seem as peaceful as he claimed. He seemed anxious.
A few weeks later his transmission died, and he phoned me saying, “What the hell is God doing!” He no longer seemed anxious; he was angry. It was not an improvement.
Why are we so reluctant to admit our doubts? I have met scores of believers who try to keep a stiff upper lip, or refuse to voice a negative thought, or speak only positive platitudes; many even deny they are getting sick in the midst of chills, fever, and a hacking cough.
The thing is, our doubt is never improved by our self-deceit.
Doubts Meet Reality
Nearly seventy years ago, Norman Vincent Peale published one of the most influential self-help books of all time: The Power of Positive Thinking. And its message infected our culture like the plague. Christians and atheists alike confused faith with the self-hypnosis mantra of repeating “I can do all things in Christ” ten times a day. Twenty times would be better.
The Power of Positive Thinking is heretical, but every successful heresy works only when it resembles the real thing. Peale’s version has faith, but it rests its faith in “faith” rather than in God. And it ignores Scripture. When all sorts of terrors inflict Job, he screams, rips his robes, shaves his head, and sits in a pile of ashes. And Scripture says, “In all this, Job sinned not.”
Maybe Job should have read The Power of Positive Thinking. Probably not.
Real faith looks at reality with eyes wide open, and whenever we honestly examine reality, we will find doubt. If God’s nature is infinite, then our limited understanding of him always falls short of his reality. Which means our sense of reality and his real reality are in conflict.
Jesus Always Reveals Our Doubt
Spiritual growth only takes place when God’s ultimate reality confronts our false reality. That is why Jesus constantly exposes our doubts. He provokes our spiritual growth—not that he makes us to doubt, but because we already do doubt. We just won’t admit it.
When Jesus tells his disciples that they should forgive their repenting brother seven times in one day, what was Jesus doing? He revealed a true-spiritual reality that differed from the disciples’ limited-spiritual reality. How do we know? When they hear his command, they cry, “Increase our faith!” Which means they admitted their doubts.
Which is exactly what Jesus wanted in the first place.
The disciples’ dinky reality led them to forgive their brother, but only with limits. Jesus shows them a spiritual reality of unworthy humanity, repeatedly rebelling against God; and yet of such value to God that he himself comes down to absorb its sins at infinite cost.
Jesus does not fear our imperfect sense of reality. Instead, he constantly incites reactions in us to reveal our doubts so we can grow into a deeper and truer spiritual understanding.
We will always grow most when we take our most perplexing questions to God and look to him to stretch our minds beyond our doubts—our dinky realities—into a new understanding of Him.
As Einstein once said, “Never lose a holy curiosity.” Even when we doubt.
Sam
P. S. Jesus stirs up those doubts in us so we bring them to him; so we can grow in intimacy with him. So we can hear his voice.
To grow in that divine dialogue, please watch the video bel0w (Is that all there is?), and read, Hearing God in Conversation.
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Cynthia Tews
So true. Faith in faith puts the focus on ourselves. True faith . . . and doubt! . . . puts the focus on God.
Beliefs of the Heart
I like how you say that, both “true faith and genuine doubt puts the focus on God.”
Stephen Foltz
I loved the line suggesting Job should have read Peale’s book! Or not! 🙂
I also love God for being able, and willing, to put up with my unbelief and my lack of understanding in certain situations. I stress over things, and when I do, my faith is nowhere to be found. I am still struggling to leave the things I cannot control or understand in God’s trustworthy hands. But, at the same time, I believe with all my heart that God is good and is in control. He will not punish me for asking “Why?” or “How?”.
Beliefs of the Heart
Alas for you Stephen, you must share my humor!
It’s funny, but in some places, Jesus says we must have faith. In other places, he says even if our faith is the size of a tiny seed, it’s okay.
I think it’s because the point is the OBJECT of our faith rather than the AMOUNT of our faith. And bringing doubts to God is an act of faith.
Omoh
Thank you Sam! That was profound!
Beliefs of the Heart
Thank you.
Bob Hartig
Geeze, Sam, where do you get this stuff? Never mind; I know.
“That is why Jesus constantly exposes our doubts. He provokes our spiritual growth—not that he makes us to doubt, but because we already do doubt.” Well, then. That is just so smack-on, and so well said. And this is such a great post.
Yesterday I found myself having a piss-off at God. I knew I was being shallow, and coming out of a selfish, limited perspective. Totally in the flesh. But I needed to put what was bothering me before my Father, emotions and all.
I don’t have a cozy, gently smiling, finger-wagging, tut-tut, grandfatherly image of God. He is high, holy, and other, so much so that I barely comprehend the meaning of those words even as I write them. But he is also my Abba, and there is no point in trying to hide from him what cannot be hidden. He already knows, often before I’m ready to admit it. But it’s in the admitting that he meets me and deals with me and shows me his love. His chest is big enough for me to pound on, and strong enough to hold me close so that in the end I can hear his heartbeat.
Beliefs of the Heart
Yes, God is both EMINENT (really, really big and awesome) and IMMINENT (close, approachable) at the same time. Both Holy Father and Dad.
And at any given time, we are probably doubting one of those.
mknowermd
…and at the end of the book, God tells the three friends that Job will pray for them, because “he has spoken rightly of me.”
God can handle our expressions of honest emotion. The belief that walking with God will guarantee us good things (as we define them), and that adversity is a sign of sin or lack of faith, is magical thinking.
Beliefs of the Heart
Great point. Let’s begin with doubting our “magical” thinking; which always falls short of the real God.
Katherine Scott Jones
Grateful, as always, for your clear dissection and articulation of both problem and solution. So good.