Thursday, September 6, 2018

Faith Interrupted

By John Stallings


Lord I believe, help me with my doubts. Mark 9:16-The Message


A young boy was riding home in the family car after Sunday school & church. 

The parents asked the boy what he’d heard that morning in Sunday school class. The boy said, “It was cool, Moses crept behind enemy lines & sneaked his people under barbed wire & past the searchlights out into the desert. They got stuck at the Red Sea & it looked like they were gonna get captured by the Egyptians & their tanks. So Moses ordered the engineering corps to build a pontoon bridge across the sea. When the tanks started after them, Moses called in an air strike & jet fighters flew down with smart bombs & killed only the bad guys.”

“Is that really what your teacher told you?” asked the father?
“No,” says the boy. “But you’d never believe what the teacher said.”

Let’s face it. When it comes to faith, many times we can have troubling questions & not as many absolute answers as we’d like. I’ve had folk to ask me if I ever had doubts. Truth be told, I hardly ever have a day to pass without a doubt or question coming into my mind. Frankly I don’t see how anyone can be a Christian & not have doubts from time to time. Faith requires doubt in order to be faith. If you come to a place where all your doubts are gone, you’ll know you’re in heaven.

This is one of the best kept secrets in Christianity; we all have doubts along the way. But doubts can be healthy. They can often be a catalyst to new spiritual growth. Without bogging down here, let me explain that there’s a difference in doubt & unbelief. Unbelief is the opposite of faith while doubt refers to inner uncertainty.

BOY POSSESSED BY DEMON

One day Jesus & His disciples came upon a man who had a sick son. The boy had a demon spirit that would sometimes throw him on the ground foaming at the mouth like an epileptic. The father said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have pity on us & help us.” Jesus answered, “What do you mean if I am able. All things are possible with God.” The man replied, “Yes I believe, but help my unbelief.”

Many people think demonic possession is a myth but I disagree. It seems that there are two extremes; people who don’t believe in demons & people who see two demons behind every coffee pot. I can tell you that the sight of it is disturbing & the sounds that come out of a demon possessed person’s mouth are exceedingly & unhealthily disturbing. I’ve witnessed it. Yes demons are real because Jesus had to deal with them on many occasions. To deny this is to call Jesus a liar.

However as Christians we don’t have to be afraid of the devil, for the greater one lives in us. A demon possessed Christian is a contradiction in terms. Christ & Satan can’t & wouldn’t reside in the same person.

Christ’s disciples had tried to heal this boy but failed. Jesus explained to them that they’d forgotten to pray because some things are only accomplished through prayer & fasting.

Recently I was reading a book of sermons written by a man who has had a presence on national radio & T.V for years. I was somewhat surprised to hear him tell of being confronted with a demon-possessed man who came into his church office tipping over steel desks & throwing furniture around like match sticks. He said, “I knew the man was devil possessed because of his strength. However, I also knew the days of miracles were over so I didn’t take any chances, I called 911.”

I’d be interested in having that good brother give me the date when miracles ceased but I already know the date. It was when people ceased to have faith in a miracle working God. When someone tells me they don’t believe in divine healing I usually say, - “well don’t worry about healing. It isn’t for you anyway, it’s for believers. If you don’t believe in healing, you won’t be bothered with it.” Nothing is impossible when we believe God.

You’ve probably heard someone say at some point that God doesn’t ask us to put our brain on the shelf when we follow Him. That’s true in one sense. There’s plenty of proof available to validate the claims of the Bible. I happen to believe that nowhere does the Bible contradict itself or tell us things about people & places that run counter to scientific [or science-so-called-] findings. I believe in the “inerrancy of the Bible,”i.e, I don’t believe there are errors in The Word of God. Not one tiny error. There are many things we may not understand, but zero errors.

Some people say, “The Bible contradicts itself.” I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit trying to chase down some of these contradictions. However I’ve learned unequivocally that the Bible doesn’t contradict itself; it does however contradict us. This doesn’t mean I have full understanding of all things spiritual. On many things I wait patiently to possess full knowledge, knowing it will take another world to reveal it all.

Author John Bunyan in his classic Christian book Pilgrim’s Progress deals with the adversaries Christians have to overcome. There’s a castle called “Doubting castle” & the owner is “Giant Despair.” As we journey down this road called faith there are ditches of doubt. During these times we may feel we’re walking through the valley of darkness Isaiah talks about in Isaiah 50:10; he says according to The Message;

Who out there fears God,
Actually listens to the voice of His servant?
For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going,
Anyone groping in the dark,
Here’s what: Trust in God,
Lean on your God.



“AWAITING FURTHER LIGHT”

When I was in Bible College, one of my teachers said something that made a lasting impact on me. He said; if you’re ever troubled by a doubt or some question of faith for which there doesn’t seem to be a satisfying answer, tuck it away in a drawer labeled “Awaiting further light.” He continued,- we might open the drawer now & then & think about this or that but if the answer hasn’t come, close the drawer & keep waiting for further light to come & illuminate the truth. This keeps us from “freezing” in doubt or impugning God’s Word just because we as yet don’t have full revelation.

The teacher added -because he knew he was teaching young aspiring preachers, never, never share with others the areas where we were “awaiting further light.” “Tell them what you know.” If we share from our “awaiting further light” file we’ll get the folk as confused as we are. How right he was.

I’ve heard Billy Graham say that he had a thousand questions for God when he gets to heaven. The Apostle Paul himself admitted that we “see through a glass darkly.” To be honest, after all these years in the ministry, well over fifty, I believe my “awaiting further light” drawer has grown larger but of course the questions & answers I seek aren’t the same.

FIRE ANTS, FRUIT FLIES & ROACHES

Living in Florida comes with the understanding that some other of God’s small critters will co-exist with us. I was raised in Florida & from childhood can remember that if we did nothing in the way of exterminating, we’d have little creepy-crawlers on our tables, in our beds & maybe even crawling up our legs. So you have to fight them if you don’t want to live with insects. These little guys just show up in your house complete with attitudes. They get in by being born inside, wishing themselves inside or by coming through holes not visible to the human eye. They seem to feel they have every right to invade your domicile. So we do what we have to do to get rid of our pests.

Doubts are a lot like flies, ants & roaches. Doubts are “ants in the pants of faith.” They keep us alive & awake struggling to make sense of what God is up to in His great big universe. As already stated, doubts can be a catalyst for growth. I can’t say this for sure but maybe the ants & roaches are here for the same purpose.

Some people feel that even honest doubt is sinful & a symptom of weak faith or spiritual sickness. They seem to think God is in danger of disappearing because of our questions. I don’t believe that’s true. I don’t believe God is so weak that He has to be shielded from questioning. Doubt can be healthy when it’s sincere questioning, searching, probing, wondering why, & not being satisfied with conventional answers. Doubt- if it means an honest searching can be good when it leads to life, truth & knowledge.

Please don’t misunderstand me here. There’s a danger if you & I are-“ever learning & never coming to the knowledge of the truth.” As our faith grows stronger, we should come into full commitment, surrendering & entrusting our life to God.

Our faith can’t be so wishy-washy that we say, “I’m inclined to the opinion that in all probability there exists a being that may not inappropriately be called God.”You’ll remember the three Hebrew boys who were threatened by a wicked king that if they didn’t bow down & worship him, they’d be thrown into a fiery furnace. They explained to the king their faith that God would deliver them. However they added- “but if not” they wouldn’t bow down & worship him. There has to be a “but if not” clause in our faith, meaning -we’d love to have more answers, “but if not,” - if we never get them in this life, we’ll still serve God.

True faith if it’s to mean anything is the determination to walk, live & act in the light of the declared conviction that God is real & has our best interest at heart. Like the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, they didn’t merely voice the opinion that flight with a heavier-than-air machine was possible; they got in the machine & flew. Our expression to God should be; here is my life & my soul & my doubts. Please do what you can with me.

Going back to our story of the little boy possessed of a demon, with a father who had wavering faith; notice that despite the fact that the father admitted he has been wandering & stumbling through the land of doubt, despite the inner despair, despite the struggle, despite the fact that his faith was deeply intermingled with doubt, nevertheless, by grace Jesus granted this man’s request. Evidently the man’s faith mattered more to Jesus than his doubt did because Jesus didn’t even rebuke him for his unbelief.

Friend, this should be an encouragement to us, especially in difficult times. The only thing this father knew for sure was that his little boy was tormented & that Jesus could possibly help him. The words “if you can do anything to help us,” are hardly words of faith & are expressed in the clumsiest of ways but Jesus heard the words “I believe—help my unbelief.” When the man said that- he put the entire matter in the hands of Jesus, right where it belonged & Jesus didn’t let him down. Nor will He ever let us down. Jesus wasn’t looking for a reason not to work a miracle here. Conversely, He was looking for a reason to work a miracle for this boy & his family.

JOHN THE BAPTIST

John was in jail because he’d rebuked Herod for his sin. He must have been confused & frustrated because he sent messengers to Jesus asking; “are you the one who was to come or should we look for someone else?” Not to make excuses for John, but I’ve been to several jails to preach over the years & my heart has always been deeply moved by the hopelessness I felt there. In my opinion there could be no place more corrosive to faith than a prison cell. Nothing could be darker & more soul-destroying than to have your freedom taken away & to languish in a dank, dark prison cell.

Here was John; not knowing when or if he’d ever be released & he began to wonder. Initially, John must have believed that his imprisonment was part of his mission & was in the divine plan of God. But as the months passed, he started wondering about things. He probably wondered –“why am I still in prison? When is Jesus going to start the kingdom? When will I be released? Why isn’t something important happening?”

At least he asked the right question when he asked; “are you the one sent from heaven or is there someone else who will be our savior?” Again we have some encouragement here. Jesus didn’t rebuke John or put him down. He sent back the answer, “the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cured & the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Jesus knew John was nursing his doubts but there was no condemnation. It’s as if He was saying; “John may doubt me for now, but I don’t doubt him. He’s still my man, doubts & all.” What an incredible affirmation & what an incredible Jesus.

THOMAS

How can we talk about “Faith Interrupted” & leave Thomas out? After all, his name has become synonymous with doubt has it not? He wasn’t quick to believe Jesus had risen from the dead. Before we jump on Thomas’ back, let’s not forget something he said. In John 11: 16 when Jesus was contemplating going to the home of the now deceased Lazarus, they remembered that He had almost been stoned to death by the leaders there. Thomas said, speaking of Jesus— “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Of course Jesus & His disciples went to visit Lazarus’ family & Lazarus was raised from the dead. Thomas was right there with them so we know he was no coward.

It takes a lot of courage to talk like Thomas did. If we read between the lines here, it just might be that Thomas, more than any of the disciples knew in his heart what was about to happen to Jesus. But when it came to believing Jesus had risen from the dead, Thomas wasn’t going to beat around the bush. He wasn’t one to accept easy answers.

Let me use a personal illustration here. Once in a while I’ll get a call or an email from some well meaning person telling me that a famous singer has recorded one of my songs. Now I’m by nature not really an optimist. Or maybe I should say I’m a “cautious optimist? Juda will say, “Isn’t that wonderful?” She’ll get all excited & almost want to get on the phone & call someone & share the news. That’s one of the things I love about her. She believes. However, I can sometimes be a “fuddy-duddy.” I’ve learned through the years that some of my dear friends don’t know a thing about music. They’ll hear a song that has “Jesus” in it & say, “I think John wrote that song.” What this has done to me over time is make me very cautious. Sometimes the person is right & very often they’re wrong. Well intentioned- but wrong.

Years ago someone called & told us Debby Boone had appeared on the Larry King show & sang one of my songs. I never watch Larry so I had to do an unbelievable amount of research only to find Debby had sung a Gospel song on the show but it wasn’t one of mine. So you can understand, it’s not that I’m a total skeptic, because lots of people have recorded my songs, but I don’t get all excited until I’m absolutely certain it’s true. Even then I don’t get too excited until I first learn if they’re going to pay royalties. [Partially kidding!] One thing for sure I’ve learned the hard way not to accept second-hand information.

Likewise, Thomas wasn’t one to accept easy answers. One incident & the way Thomas responded to it gives us valuable insight into his inner landscape. Jesus had just told the disciples about His father’s house & the many mansions there & that He was going to prepare a place for them so they could be with him. Thomas was listening very intensely to Jesus & in a moment of total honesty he asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going so how can we know the way? The rest of the disciples just listened but Thomas wanted more precise information. We all know people like that-if they don’t understand they won’t let it pass. Thomas was a thoughtful man & an independent thinker -certainly not easily stampeded. He wouldn’t make a confession of faith unless he believed it to be true. He was honest about his doubts, confusion & fears, and he wouldn’t be satisfied with second-hand answers. He’d made it clear that unless he could feel the wounds in Jesus’ side he wasn't going to accept that He was alive.

Thomas wasn’t there on that Sunday evening when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. We aren’t told why, but I think I know. We said earlier that Thomas probably knew in his heart more than the others that Jesus was going to be killed. If this is true, he had already entered into mourning for His Lord. He was already being hurt. He wasn’t with the disciples because his heart had been crushed. He still loves, he still cares deeply, still wants to believe but his heart is broken. He’s not a bad man nor is his doubt sinful. He isn’t a skeptic; his honest doubts came from his devotion to Christ. It’s one thing to sit in a college classroom & doubt the virgin birth of Christ. It’s something else again to lose someone you love & wonder if there is still a God in heaven.

Thomas isn’t an unbelieving skeptic, he’s a wounded believer. He was not unwilling to believe, but unable. Thomas stands for all time as one man who desperately wanted to believe if only he could be sure. This wasn’t upsetting to Jesus, not at all. We might have a tendency to look down on Thomas but not Jesus. Eight days later, Jesus appeared to the disciples a second time. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus relates to Thomas as a man with weak faith, not as a man with an evil heart. He said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand & put it into my side. Jesus knew the raging sea within Thomas’ heart & so He came so that Thomas could be sure. Jesus didn’t chide Thomas & scold him for his little faith. He said-“Go ahead, see for yourself. Stop doubting & believe.”

As far as I can see Thomas never actually touched Jesus. Seeing Him face to face more than convinced him. When Thomas saw Jesus he rises to the highest level of faith in the gospel of John as he cries out, “My Lord & my God.” Honest doubt once resolved can actually become the bedrock of unshakable faith.


IT’S WHAT WE DO WITH OUR DOUBT THAT MATTERS

Doubt can be dangerous but it can also spur enormous spiritual growth. Here are some things that can help us move from doubt to faith;

1. Admit your doubts & ask for help.

That’s what John the Baptist did & also what Thomas did. God isn’t easily offended in the area of our honest doubts. He’s got broad shoulders. Tell God your doubts & ask Him for His help. Don’t fight the battle alone. Talk to a pastor, a deacon, an elder, anyone with strong faith & godly insight.

2. Don’t be afraid to borrow some faith.

Often I do this by reading spiritual materials especially biographies of great Christians. If this doesn’t make sense to you skip this point. But if it does, keep it in mind & when you find yourself slipping into doubt, go find someone with faith & borrow some. Let them build you up. It works. Maybe next time you’ll be building them up.

3. Recognize that faith isn’t a feeling, it’s a choice.

It’s easy to believe God when everything is going good for you but when things aren’t going so well it becomes harder. This is why we must not allow fickle emotions rule our faith-life. Emotions can change overnight for no apparent reason.

4. Act on your faith, -Not your doubts.

That’s what Noah did when he built the Ark. That’s what Abraham did. It’s also what Moses did, David did, Nehemiah did, Daniel did, & Joshua did. Did these heroes of the faith have doubts? Of course they did. They didn’t know how things were going to turn out but they took a deep breath & took “a leap of faith.”

5. Doubt your doubts, not your faith.

Don’t cast away your faith just because you’re walking through a valley. All of us spend a lot of valley time. Nothing is gained by camping out in the valley of darkness. Look for the light because it will shine on you again.

6. Know that some things will never be understood until you see The Lord.

Many of our weightiest questions revolve around the “whys” of life. Why did this happen? Why this, why now. Why did it have to happen now instead of ten years from now? These questions of the heart will be answered in heaven so it’s faith-building to say, “I understand that I won’t understand right now.”

Here is my final word to you; God never turns away an honest believer. Never. Come to Him with your doubts, your skepticism, your unbelief, your hard questions, & your sincere uncertainties & He welcomes you.

How do I know that? When I was just a teenager, I was struggling to figure out what I could believe. I knew something was wrong with my life but didn’t know what. One night in prayer I cried out, “Jesus, if you’re real come into my life.”

He did, & nothing has ever been the same.

Blessings,


John

No comments: