WELCOME TO THE DOUBTERS CLUB- BY GREG ELKAN
A reason many Believers find it hard to cope with doubt and think that it’s unique to them is because they have gilded images of Bible characters in their minds. Even after they’ve left children Sunday school class with its picture stories of shepherd David, Brave Moses, faithful Abraham, etc. they continue this selective, cherry-picking method of Bible study that seems to cast Bible characters as stoic, faithful and perfect.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Our “fathers of faith were real men like you and I and went through the same struggles some of us are afraid to admit today.
Take the prophet Jeremiah, for example. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament and wrote more prophecies than any other (the book of Jeremiah is considerably longer than Isaiah). He wasn’t just a prophet, he was also a priest, called and anointed before he was even born.
Jer 1:5 says, _“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.”_
We often quote this verse and even appropriate it to ourselves. We claim that we, too, are anointed of God and are _set over nations and over kingdoms to root out, pull down, destroy, etc._ (Jer 1:10).
Yet we wilfully ignore the actual aftermath of that prophecy. Jeremiah may have been a prophet to nations, but he was no _Elijah_ who could call down fire on his enemies or _Elisha_ who was courted by kings. Jeremiah was slapped, thrown into wells, exiled, and basically humiliated throughout his prophetic ministry.
This is why we shouldn’t be shocked when we hear this great prophet say directly to God, _“O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived… I am in derision daily, everyone mocks me…”_ (Jer 20:7-18).
Abraham, our designated “Father of Faith”, tired of waiting long after being promised great blessings by God told Him directly _“What will you give me, seeing I go childless?”_ (Gen 15:2).
We could go on and on to talk about Moses, David, John the Baptist, etc. Nevertheless, at no time did God rebuke any of them. Indeed, some of them went from these periods of doubt to achieve great feats of faith.
Beloved, doubt is neither strange nor a sin in the life of a believer, it’s what we do with it, however, that determines if we would come out better and stronger or wilt and shrivel into oblivion.
AMEN
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
PASTOR GREG ELKAN
- Nigeria
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