{"id":3435,"date":"2024-02-28T07:45:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T12:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2024-02-28T07:45:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T12:45:51","slug":"help-me-overcome-my-unbelief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/28\/help-me-overcome-my-unbelief\/","title":{"rendered":"Help Me Overcome My Unbelief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>
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Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
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Real people of faith have real doubts.
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Maybe you\u2019ve been led to believe that just isn\u2019t so.\u00a0
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All too often churches are assumed to be fortresses of unassailable certainty \u2013 places where spiritually mature people no longer have serious questions about God\u2019s existence or the meaning of life or what happens after we die.
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And if they do have such questions, they most certainty aren\u2019t going to ask them out loud.
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But the truth of the matter is that real disciples \u2013 real lifelong learners of Jesus \u2013 frequently have real doubts.\u00a0 That\u2019s simply part of what it means to surrender oneself to a God who cannot be seen, heard, or touched, and whose existence cannot be finally proved.
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The real world, after all, can be a tragic place, giving us numerous reasons to wonder if God is really there.\u00a0 The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, who was fiercely devoted to God, nevertheless suggested that the death of a single infant ought to call his existence into question.
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At the very least, a church has to be a place where there are honest answers for honest questions.
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Such an atmosphere requires humility.\u00a0 And transparency.\u00a0 And no more trotting out Dr. So-and-So\u2019s list of the 10 reasons why our spiritual convictions are spot on while everybody else is totally out to lunch.
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Many Christians have nevertheless come to see doubt as a terrifying monster.\u00a0 Surely we must batten down the hatches of our faith, conceal our misgivings from others, and refuse to consider the possibility we might be wrong.\u00a0
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If that\u2019s so, it sure is strange that Mark chooses to include in his biography of Jesus a story in which spiritual uncertainty is openly acknowledged \u2013 in the midst of which a miracle happens anyways.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
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In Mark 9:21-24, Jesus is confronted by a father whose son is afflicted by a demon.\u00a0 \u201cIf you can do anything,\u201d the father pleads with Jesus, \u201ctake pity on us and help us.\u201d \u201c\u2018If you can?\u2019 replied Jesus. \u00a0Everything is possible for the one who believes.\u201d
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Exasperated, hopeful, and desperate all at once, the father offers what can only be described as a Doubter\u2019s Prayer:\u00a0 \u201cI do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!\u201d
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In some quarters today, such wavering would be treated as a kind of unforgiveable sin.\u00a0 After all, how can you describe yourself as a \u201cperson of faith\u201d if you don\u2019t have faith?\u00a0 Outsiders might be tempted to agree with Archie Bunker\u2019s caricature of religion from an episode of All in the Family<\/em>: \u201cFaith is believing what you know can\u2019t possibly be true except that it\u2019s in the Bible.\u201d\u00a0
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We need a healthier understanding of doubt \u2013 one that honors our freedom to ask questions, search for truth, and embrace our God-provided rationality. \u00a0\u00a0
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Doubt (as evidenced by its etymological cousin \u201cdouble\u201d) means to be in two minds \u2013 to be torn between two convictions.
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Here we should note that some of the Bible\u2019s most celebrated heroes \u2013 Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Job, Thomas, and John the Baptist \u2013 were world-class doubters. \u00a0Yet God never said to any of them, \u201cConsider yourself disqualified from ministry.\u201d\u00a0
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God, in other words, can handle our doubts.<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0
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Most importantly, doubt is not the opposite of faith.\u00a0 The opposite of faith is stubborn repudiation \u2013 the stark refusal<\/em> to believe.\u00a0 Similarly, the opposite of bravery is not fear.\u00a0 The opposite of bravery is cowardice.\u00a0 Just as fear is \u201cbravery under pressure\u201d (something first responders know all too well, even as they dive into churning rivers or race into burning buildings), doubt is \u201cfaith under pressure.\u201d\u00a0
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No one who has spent much time in the fog of doubt, however, would say it\u2019s a fun place to be.\u00a0
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The issue is what happens next.\u00a0 Are our doubts condemning us to run in place, or taking<\/em> us somewhere?
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The late pastor and author Timothy Keller felt certain that all doubts are not created equal.\u00a0 \u201cThere is a kind of doubt that is the sign of a closed mind, and there is a kind of doubt that is the sign of an open mind.\u00a0 Some doubt seeks answers, and some doubt is a defense against the possibility of answers.\u201d\u00a0
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Myriads of modern people have been assured that when it comes to miracles, it\u2019s game over.\u00a0 Miracles are impossible.\u00a0
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The Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), who is widely regarded as something like the patron saint of skepticism, asked which of two options is more likely \u2013 that the laws of nature have been suspended by a supernatural being, or that our sources of news about such events were mistaken or deceived?
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Hume concluded that the evidence against<\/em> a miracle will always exceed the evidence for<\/em> a miracle.\u00a0 Therefore miracles never happen.
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Consult any contemporary discussion of miraculous events and you\u2019re likely to read something on the order of, \u201cDavid Hume demonstrated the impossibility of miracles.\u201d\u00a0 With all due respect for Hume\u2019s brilliance and winsomeness, he did nothing of the sort.\u00a0 It\u2019s more accurate to say that Hume began with the presupposition that miracles cannot<\/em> happen.\u00a0 Therefore they do<\/em> not happen.\u00a0 This is known as \u00a0circular reasoning.
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If you give miracles a zero percent chance of ever happening, you can be certain that you\u2019ll never \u201csee\u201d one.\u00a0 You\u2019ll always be led to conclude that there must be some rational explanation, even if you don\u2019t know what it is.
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The experiences of Jesus and his first-century followers, however \u2013 not to mention events that are routinely reported on mission fields in the 21st<\/sup> century \u2013 provide plausible evidence for believing that God, far from being an absentee landlord, remains active in this world.
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Is it reasonable to think that\u2019s true?\u00a0 Let\u2019s put it this way:\u00a0 If there is a Creator who can craft the Andromeda Galaxy and the intricacies of DNA replication, is it really a great leap to imagine that such a being might choose to eradicate a malignant tumor?
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Doubt, in the meantime, is not our enemy.\u00a0 Doubt may make us think more deeply.\u00a0 And study more diligently.\u00a0 And pray more fervently.\u00a0\u00a0
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Our doubts, in other words, may actually drive us into the arms of God.\u00a0 Or at least into an understanding of God that is more consistent with his true character and identity.
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Which brings us back to the desperate father who wonders, in his heart of hearts, if Jesus can actually do anything for his son.\u00a0 Maybe he can.\u00a0 Or maybe this is all a charade.\u00a0 \u201cPart of me believes in you, Jesus.\u00a0 But another part of me just can\u2019t see it.\u00a0 Please help the part of me that isn\u2019t there yet<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0
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Whereupon Jesus heals his son.
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Maybe today you\u2019re living in what feels like a spiritual No Man\u2019s Land \u2013 the swamp that lies between belief and unbelief, confidence and fear, hope and despair.
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Here\u2019s the wonderful news:
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Jesus hears and answers prayers that are offered from spiritual No Man\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here\u00a0Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Real people of faith have real doubts.\u00a0Maybe you\u2019ve been led to believe that just isn\u2019t so.\u00a0\u00a0All too often churches are assumed to be fortresses of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[126,127,11],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-doubt","tag-faith","tag-miracles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3437,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions\/3437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}