Dealing with Doubt

If you do not deal with your doubts, you will be given over to a spirit of murmuring and complaining. You will live that way and die that way. Your doubts cannot simply be suppressed; they must be pulled out by the roots.

Look at Israel just three days after their deliverance from Egypt. They had been singing, shaking their tambourines, and testifying to the power and strength of a mighty God. They started with boasting that he was leading and protecting them, then they arrived at Marah, which means “waters of bitterness.” This was to be testing place for them.

God just keeps allowing crisis after crisis until we finally get the lesson. If we keep refusing to learn it, a time comes when he gives us over to our own bitterness and murmuring. “And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water… And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” (Exodus 15:22, 24, NKJV).

On Sunday, the Israelites were having a great time singing, dancing, and praising. Wednesday came, and they were in trouble. Another crisis and they were falling apart!

How could people lose their confidence so quickly? Because they never had any. They never had that foundation built under them. They had learned absolutely nothing from their previous crisis, and again they missed an opportunity to trust in the greatness of their God.

From that day on, Israel was beyond learning anything from God. They even began to take his goodness for granted. They had no food, so he sent them manna from heaven. He dropped quails out of the sky, piling them three feet high outside the camp. As far as we know, not a word of thanksgiving was heard. Instead, the people turned to greed, hoarding all that God gave them. Israel became stiff-necked.

Oh, what a shame it is to go from crisis to crisis and learn nothing in the process. We miss the blessings of peace and joy in the midst of our trials. We miss seeing the face of God in our storms. What a grave loss!