Jesus and Doubt

I have often heard that doubt and faith cannot coexist in the same person.  Or if you call yourself a follower of Christ but still have doubts, then you’re really not a legitimate follower. I don’t agree with this.  While I know it takes faith to trust in Christ, I also know that we can grow in our faith and this growth is a journey that will take a lifetime. And how did Jesus handle doubt? Did He just reject people that didn’t have 100% faith? Absolutely not, just look at this record from Mark 9:14-27:

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?" 

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." 

He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 

So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"

And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." 

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" 

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

Doubt and Jesus

This is a very interesting scene. Here’s a father getting frustrated with the disciples who are equally frustrated with the father. The source of their frustration is the lack of deliverance for the stricken child.  Jesus intervenes and gets the scoop of what’s happening.  He asks questions to find out the details and to discern the man’s story while assessing the condition of his heart. It then gets even tenser when the man says to Jesus, of all people, “If you can do anything…”

Jesus counters in the most interesting way, rather than becoming indignant at the man for doubting Him, He instead responds by saying, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Notice that Jesus doesn't lecture the father that he should believe with every ounce of fiber in his body. I think Jesus is instead saying to him that even an inkling of faith is a start.

Mustard anyone?

It reminds me of how Jesus speaks of faith like a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). A mustard seed is tiny but it eventually explodes into a bush that even birds find shelter and rest in (see also Matthew 13:31-32). Faith, then, starts small and if nurtured properly will mature into something quite large.

We see this in operation in the father in our story. He responds to Jesus by saying, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!” A very honest response from a very desperate father, one part of him trusts in Jesus, but another part in the depths of his soul still doubts. Have you ever been there? I sure have, and in some areas of my life I’m still there. Jesus recognizes this as the frailty of humanity and rather than rebuking the father for his honesty or ongoing lack of faith, He heals the father’s son instead. A stern religious person or cult leader would demand 100% faith, which, of course, would be impossible, which means the father would have to either lie to the Lord or walk away completely defeated. Thankfully, Jesus is real and understands our great dilemma: we have faith but also, at the same time, we fight doubt and even hopelessness.

Jesus is our loving God in action, meeting us where we’re at, as if lifting our sagging and trembling chin to look us loving in the eyes while whispering, “I understand, it’s okay, I’m with you now. Let’s walk together.” He takes time to understand the narrative of our lives and doesn't rush in with rash judgments about our background, lifestyle, or lack of faith.

Bridge of Faith

As we've seen in this record, faith is a starting point, not an ending point. Faith is something that starts small and over time, sometimes a lot of time, grows. Faith is the bridge from being destined to hell to suddenly being destined for Heaven. And it starts simply:

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

─Acts 16:31

So our faith is a bridge to salvation, but like any bridge, once you cross it, you have a vast terrain to travel on the other side of it. This vast terrain is moving deeper into the Kingdom of Christ. With each step deeper into this new land, our faith will be challenged, just like father in this record; but also with each step Jesus will be with us helping to mature and refine our faith as long as we don’t give up. And this journey will take the rest of our lives, so some of our doubts may linger on for years; and, frankly, that’s okay, Jesus is not in a hurry, so why are we?

So let’s stop beating ourselves and others up for having doubts. Instead, let’s acknowledge that doubts are real and that Jesus can step into the center of these doubts if we just invite Him into the narrative of our lives.