Doubt and Unbelief
by Margaret Davies
Doubt and unbelief, what powerful tools they are in the enemy’s hands! I may think that I don’t doubt and haven’t got unbelief, but then I realise that both of these are in operation in my life daily.
If we really trusted, didn’t doubt, and carried no unbelief, then we’d be walking in the fullness of all that Christ has won for us. Probably few of us live totally in that fullness all of the time. When Jesus healed the demonised boy, as told in Mark 9:23-24, the father asked Jesus “Have mercy on us and help us if you can”. “What do you mean if I can?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes”. The Father cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief”.
I think most of us can relate to that story and share some of the father’s unbelief, but God can be trusted, and He means what He says. How often have we felt that the Lord has given us a word about something which doesn’t seem to happen immediately, or sometimes for a long period of time, but still we’re sure that God has spoken that word to us?
Then we have little niggles of doubt and unbelief that God has really spoken to us. These can creep in and steal our joy and peace. Ellel Ministries runs a course at Blairmore House called ‘Bridge from the Head to the Heart’, and I think that’s the journey many of us are on with regards to doubt and unbelief. It’s only the Spirit of God that can bring the revelation we need of the full truth of how big God really is. One of our failings is that we bring God down to our size, or the size we can deal with, and we forget how big God really is. He truly does have the whole world in His hands. We can sing the well-known chorus ‘Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that he cannot do’, but do we truly believe that?
We may know it in our heads, but does our whole being comprehend it, that there truly is nothing that He cannot do. I must confess that I want to believe this, and I know it in my head, but sometimes I have unbelief, like the Father of the demonised boy. Only Jesus can help my unbelief, and we need God’s help to fully receive the truth into our hearts and our spirits.
In the Western world especially, we have so much material wealth and provision that we can become independent and self-sufficient, and that takes our dependency away from the Lord. Often, in countries which aren’t so affluent, people can trust and believe with much more freedom, because they understand the provision of God, often in impossible situations.
Do we look to the Lord in all our circumstances or do we yield to our fears, doubts and unbelief? Today we need to focus on the Lord and not be distracted by the enemy, who can so easily turn our vision away from Yeshua, who’s the only One who can deal with our doubts and unbelief.
Prayer: Father forgive me when I so easily give into my doubts, and move into unbelief. Help me to keep my eyes focused on you, my Lord and Saviour. You’re my only helper. You’re always there. You never leave me or forsake me. Keep my eyes and my heart turned towards You today. Amen.
Margaret Davies is married to Trevor whom she met and married in Israel where she worked in various ministries for almost 10 years. They joined Ellel Ministries in Scotland in 2002 where they served for almost 13 years, and have just recently left the full time team at Blairmore House. They are presently living in a small village in North Essex, and Margaret enjoys baking, gardening and walking.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
