Jude 22

Be merciful to those who doubt


One of the things I've been learning a lot about lately is doubt. We can doubt all sorts of things: doubt God's power, his will, our purpose/call, or even his existence. And most of the time whenever we doubt, we feel totally filled with shame. We think that we're "bad" christians and are insulting God. As a result, we stop going to church, stop fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters and stop praying. Not at all in an attempt to make the doubts go away, but just to hide. To a degree, that was me this summer (which is one reason why the blog dried up). I was freed of that last night and pastor Dino preached an amazing, revealing message that I'll try to convey here.
We oftentimes like I said have such a skewed view of doubt, almost like a tunnel vision of our shame. We're totally forgetting that every single christian struggles with it at some time. As a result, we pass judgement on those who are struggling and to some degree shun them. Jude 22 is a verse that is so small (half a sentence) that most people just gloss over it, but its implications are HUGE. God's telling us to as the church welcome those who are doubting, walk along side them through that doubt, and see how we can help them. Not only that, but he's also saying for us to do the same about ourselves! You, when you doubt, when you feel that shame building, have mercy on yourself! Don't get down on yourself and being filled with shame - no. Tell yourself it's alright and normal the things you're thinking, then gently pick yourself back up and keep on walking: with your brothers/sisters and with God.

Not only does God remind us that it's perfectly normal to go through seasons of doubt, he even promises in Matthew 12:20a that he'll be there beside us! "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out..."We so often think God's angry with us when we're questioning all those things about him....that's not true! He's infinitely patient and loving with us. He's not going to snuff you out because the light you once shown brightly is now a bare ember. He's not going to break and toss you aside because you once could stand tall and strong in your faith but now can hardly stand. No :) My friends, he's not like that at all, and says so right there. Look at Peter after the crucifixion. He (who once was an apostle, preaching to thousands) flat out denied Jesus in public three times, but Jesus still forgave him and loved on him.
There's countless examples in the Bible (David, Samson, Thomas, even Moses and Noah!) of doubt and forgiveness, and that's the cool thing: the Bible isn't a collection of just what God DID. If so, that'd be pointless. It's a collection of what he's DOING. God's doing for people what they cannot do for themselves. Maybe for you that's taking away doubt, maybe it's just loving you through that doubt. You've got two great promises. Cling to them :)