Doubt

When I was a little kid, I hated to hear my mom say “I doubt it”. That always meant I wasn’t going to get something I wanted.  As I contemplated the passing week, I realized, I’m still not a fan of that word. Doubt leaves some gaping holes in my armor. Misunderstandings that make me doubt my value as an individual, miscommunications that make me doubt my motives, mistakes that make me doubt my abilities …  nothing I do is right. Whoa! How can this be? Do you ever feel like that? Do any of those things sound familiar.  Doubt! Value as a person? That’s impossible my friends. Before we were born, God knew what we would become. He formed us to be us, uniquely you, uniquely me. He knew there would be days when we would wake up saying, ”How did I get here? What’s my purpose? Why can’t I _____?” When we answer those questions, we base them on human perspective, but God doesn’t. He looks at each one of us and he sees a treasure. He sees our potential. Where we see a blob of clay, God sees a masterpiece. It’s up to us though to see that masterpiece in ourselves and make strides toward it.  We have to believe God when he says we have great value.
We have to believe that we are so valuable to God that He walks beside us every step – He never leaves us. Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you or forsake you”.  That’s a pretty awesome promise, especially when we are suffocated by doubt. God is there defending us against those things that cause doubt. He can’t get inside to comfort us and give us strength for the day if we don’t open up and let Him.  Why do we so stubbornly hold onto doubt? Why is it so hard to let go of doubt and believe we have purpose, we have value, and even though we are far from perfect, God loves us.  He won’t grab us and pull us to Him, but His spirit comes alongside us and whispers in our ears:  I am with you when you make a mistake and I will help you bounce back from it. Believe me, put your trust in me to help you move past it. I was with you when communication broke down and things didn’t turn out well. Believe me, put your trust in me and I will get you through it. I am with you when all those misunderstandings made you feel like you not only lost the battle, but you also lost the war. Nothing is further from the truth. Trust me on this.  I am your God, you are my child. We are in this together but you have to put all your faith in me. All of it! ALL-OF-IT   You can’t hide from me because I love you too much. Please remember that I am the same God who David sang about in Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If we had no value, would God stand beside us? Would he be with us in every situation? Would he be the guardian of our soul? Today let’s let God be God. Let’s look ahead to this new day knowing that whatever we go through today GOD IS THERE.  Let’s not be like the doubting disciples who had to be reminded again and again:  Why are you so afraid? Why do you have no faith?
So where is that armor?  We need it! Today, tomorrow, until we reach our heavenly home, we need God, we need His only Son, Jesus, and we need faith to get us through. It starts with the one thing we can control – our attitude. Believe God because He, above all else, is believable.
As we step into this new day let’s remember:   Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God wlll be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Let God carry you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMZj0520v0g&feature=related