Doubt

“’Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt Me?’” (Matthew 14:29-31 NLT)

Doubt, as with Peter, often comes as a result of an imminent threat, trial, or trouble. We’re at the end of our resources, with no viable means of dealing with the problem on our own. And, at least in our mind, it’s not doubting Jesus that’s as big a problem for us as it is doubting ourselves or our own resources.

Why was Jesus so quick to make the connection between Peter’s failure and doubt? Jesus specifically says: “Why did you doubt Me?” What is it about doubt that becomes an affront to our Savior? What is it that becomes so offensive? What did Peter do?

When he began to pay more attention to what was going on around him than Who was in front of him, he began to sink. What’s the application for us? How are we tempted to do the same thing? Doubt isn’t just having conflicting thoughts about who Jesus is, about His Word, or issues pertaining to our faith in Him, it’s allowing ourselves to get so distracted by what’s going on in or around us, we allow it to draw our attention away from the Lord.

Some of my strongest convictions have grown out of my most nagging questions and doubts, so, on some levels can’t we see doubt as a good thing? Tim Keller addresses this when he writes: “Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts… It is not sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.” 

In my mind there is a difference between doubts about doctrinal positions on a specific belief and doubts as to the deity of Christ or the inerrancy of Holy Scripture. We can differ in our understanding of how the Holy Spirit gifts us or what priority we should give those gifts in our day-to-day life. But doubting that the Bible teaches salvation by faith alone in Christ alone or that every believer is called to follow Christ’s directive to participate in making disciples (Matthew 28:19) is clear as can be.

We can doubt ourselves and our readiness to do something to which the Lord calls us, but we have to wrestle with the implication that it may not be a matter of knowledge or understanding, but a willingness to obey a clear directive of the Lord. The literal translation of the word “doubt” in the verse above is “knot, joint, problem.” Figuratively, it can also relate to difficulties that cause our minds to stir with so many thoughts of what might be or where our current difficulties may lead.

It stands to reason that Peter was a capable swimmer, as his whole life centered around his time on and around the water. Surely, he’s seen storms on the lake before, but none on which he was walking. It was all new to him and, obviously, very frightening, as it would be for me or you. The Lord didn’t give Peter instructions to keep His eyes on Him, but implicit in His directive, “Yes, come,” was the idea of coming “to ME!”

On our walk with the Lord Jesus, it’s His desire that we keep our focus on Him. But why? Because there are so many distractions that can so quickly draw our attention away from Him onto something else that has the potential to “drown” our faith. So, the clear implication to me is, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and allow our doubts to push us closer to Him, not pull us further away. We’ll find every answer we need in Him, in His love for us, in His unwavering care for us.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊