How Do I Handle Nagging Doubt?
He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?” Luke 24:38
This is a probing question the risen Lord asked his disciples in the Upper Room, and he could very well ask us the same question today. We face difficulties, and doubts arise in our hearts. We find ourselves feeling uncertain, confronted by troubling questions.
Earlier in the chapter, the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus were questioning the reality of Jesus’ reported Resurrection and whether He had accomplished the work of redemption as promised. It was at that point in their journey of doubt that Jesus revealed Himself to them and explained all the things concerning Himself in the Old Testament.
So how do we handle daunting doubts that come our way? Allow the living Christ to open your heart to the living Word and fill you with the truth of who He is and what He has done. Doubts arise when our minds are focused on half-truths and uncertainties. Faith is built when we receive the whole counsel of God from Scripture.
Doubts can also be driven away when you realize that the living Christ who walks with you is the One who lives in you. When the disciples’ eyes were opened and they realized they had been speaking with Jesus, they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (v. 32). Doubts fade when you experience the reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).*
Heavenly Father, in the busyness and pressures of our world, my mind can become clouded with doubt. Please drive back these dark clouds of doubt. Open my eyes that I may see You and open my ears that I may hear You speaking through Your Word. May I experience “holy heart-burn” as I daily walk with You. I pray in the name of our living Lord Jesus. Amen
*Dr. Michael Lewis, Plant City, Florida