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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Doubt

Doubt has a sneaky way of creeping into my life. I'm not exactly sure what starts it, but probably hard times. Like, a change in who I'm around. Problems with people I know. Stress. But he comes in quietly and sneakily with just a quiet whisper in my ear. "How do you  know you believe? How do you know you're saved?" Shameful thoughts, really, and thoughts that should be put out of my mind as quickly as possible! But when they're not immediately pushed away, they bring more and worse thoughts. "How do you know God is real?"

This happened to me just over this past weekend. It was the worst feeling, wondering if I really did doubt God's existence. I prayed my way through it, though, and God gave me a feeling of his realness in my soul. "Yea, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him who loved us." Satan was beat back and I am so happy!

I want to say that, just because you allow a thought into your head like, "How do I know God is real?", it does not mean you have lost faith or were never saved. Satan has a way of quietly slipping ideas into our brain and it is  a war to keep them out. "Taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ." I need to make that my practice! To not let thoughts contrary to what God and  His Word tell me continue in my brain. I need to push them back immediately. There is a part in "Pilgrim's Progress" which was written by a man named John Bunyan, where Christian (his hero) is going through "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" and a devil slips up beside him in the darkness and whispers doubts and blasphemies in his ear. Bunyan writes "the poor man was so confounded he thought these things did arise from his own heart, for he did not perceive the devil" or words to that effect ;) I don't have the book in front of me. But we need to beware that we do not let Satan's thoughts continue in our brain. We need to be ready "in season and out" to combat, not only people who confront God's word, but also devils.

My thoughts for today! :) Hope they encourage you!

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