Weekend Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Is It Just Me... Who Has Doubts?
Read: Hebrews 11:1; I John 2:27
Think: I am not embarrassed to say that even as a ‘long-time’ follower of Christ I still have doubts. Recently my doubts have taken a dramatic change. Rejecting those doubts is taking me down a very scary road that I can only do because I know that God is in it.
One such doubt that I am currently dealing with is my ability to be part of a new area of ministry that God seems to be leading me into. To me, it is an incredible leap of faith—filled with doubts. It requires some skills I never considered myself having—in fact in past attempts I have been left feeling disappointed as I compared myself to others and my own expectations. I ended up doing things that were more in my comfortable, left-brained, analytical thinking side. Recently, however, God has gotten me more in touch with my right-brain—my creative side in some very personal ways—like writing. It has been quite a process to embrace that in spite of the voices in my head that indicate otherwise.
The scripture that comes to my mind as I think about all this is Hebrews 11:1.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
The last time God reminded me of that verse, I also felt ill-equipped to go where He was leading me. I had lots of doubts and fear of failure. As Pastor Kip mentioned in the sermon, ‘we tend to believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs’. That is where I was then and where I am now. I learned then that I didn’t need to have all the answers, but that I just had to have a willingness to take one step at a time, keep seeking His wisdom and being vulnerable in the process. These are not easy things to do for an analytical thinker like me. I know it won’t be the last time that God will pull me out of my comfort zone.
So joining this new ministry team means I have to choose to listen to God’s voice telling me this is possible and not the old tapes that tell me my abilities are not ‘good enough’. So far I have done each of those steps that Pastor Kip mentioned:
I’ve even done it publicly no less. My next right step is to ‘just do it’ by trusting in the Lord and not leaning on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
This may all sound abstract or ‘preachy’ to those other left-brained analytical thinkers who are reading this, but the one thing that has become perfectly clear to me over this past year is that nothing is TOO big for God. I also know that God places dreams in our heart not to torture us, but to give us a glimpse of what is possible if we follow His will. God has seen my heart and He knows best how to use me. So as I try not to question His will in this I am also laying aside my doubts. I know that if God is in it, He will use it.
Do: What about you? Is there an area of your life that you have doubts about where God is leading you? Pray about it and talk it over with a trusted friend. Take the next small step to follow where you think God is leading you—and then WAIT for confirmation. If it is meant to be, it will come.
Pray: Dear Lord, help us look to you as the author and creator of our dreams. Keep us focused on pursuing success by Godly standards and not worldly standards. Help us to overcome our unbelief. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.