10/17/2019
Even when things are going our way, and the Lord God is blessing us at every turn, we can experience doubt. This is one of the most frustrating challenges to our faith, and the sharpest tool that Satan has at his disposal. When doubt confronts us do we allow it rattle our belief, or do we face it with the resolve that God is true to His Word, and of unwavering character?
“Then David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand."”
1 Samuel 27:1 ESV
When David made this statement he had just let King Saul live for a second time. David had entered Saul’s tent and found him asleep with his spear stuck in the ground beside him; ready to use in case of attack. Yet David let him live...
“Then Abishai said to David, "God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice." But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord 's anointed and be guiltless?"”
1 Samuel 26:8-9 ESV
David took the spear and a jar of water that was there too, and after leaving Saul’s encampment, called back to him revealing that he could have killed him but didn’t. Then in the midst of this exchange, Saul shouted out that he had made a mistake...
“Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake." And David answered and said, "Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it.”
1 Samuel 26:21-22 ESV
So after having honored God’s anointing of Saul as King, and Saul having told him to come back, David doubted. We might say that David was doubting Saul’s intentions, but wasn’t he also doubting God? All the miracles, and all of the blessings, and yet now, rather than going back, we read that David chooses to flee the country... to leave Israel, and go to a land of foreign gods. Let’s read again...
“Then David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand."”
1 Samuel 27:1 ESV
But before we judge David harshly, we should look at ourselves; we doubt just like David did in this story. God is blessing us, and making a way for us, and yet we can find this nagging doubt within us that dishonors Him, and sometimes we let it drive us away from our faithfulness, just as it drove David over into Gath...
“So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.”
1 Samuel 27:2 ESV
Doubt... it is the nemesis of faith, and yet we allow it to creep into our lives, and even make excuses for it when it surfaces. How many times do we go into our prayer closet and ask for God’s provision, and upon leaving that place, knowing that God has heard us, still harbor a tiny seed of doubt in our hearts? We are told in scripture that a mustard seed of faith can move mountains, but we are also told that a tiny weed seed can make our fields chaotic.
“but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.”
Matthew 13:25-26 ESV
A seed of doubt also contains power, and can make harvesting our fields difficult (even seem impossible), but much like the field in this ”Parable of the Weeds” that Jesus has taught us, doubt, once sown, can’t be separated. We are also told that as undesirable as it is, it can exist side by side with faith, and we must wait until harvest time to separate them so as not to destroy our faith in the process of pulling up the weeds. Their roots can thus become intertwined.
“He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.”
Matthew 13:28-29 ESV
Doubt... it might take nourishment away from the roots of our faith, and require us to pray all the more fervently, or to work harder in the harvest, but if we don’t give up on our faith it can be overcome! Even when we look at ourselves, and can see only the weeds of doubt which have grown taller than our faith, there is hope, and God’s promises remain. Even though Satan comes at night and sows our field with weeds, we should hold tight to our faith, even in the presence of doubt there remains the promise of a harvest... and the certainty that it is coming.
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.”
Numbers 23:19-20 ESV
So how can we protect our fields from the evil one who comes with seeds of doubt? How can we keep our wheat fields of faith from being contaminated by tares? We do it by faith... by putting on the armor of God, praying, and standing guard over our souls... Listen...
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Ephesians 6:16-20 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the power in a mustard seed of faith, and its ability to defeat the weeds of the dark one. Thank you Lord for your Son Jesus Christ who teaches us how to overcome the weeds in a life that is often made chaotic by doubt, and how we can harvest the grain of righteousness from the same field that has been spoiled with tares. Thank you for His blood that washes us, and makes us pure, removing the stain of sin and doubt. Help us in our unbelief, and strengthen our faith as we stand guard against the darkness, and keep us firm in our faith that Jesus will burn the bundles of weeds and present us as a perfect harvest to you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who overcomes death, and harvests us from within fields polluted by doubt, and sinfulness. Great is your love that sent Jesus to suffer, die, be resurrected, and to ascend into heaven , so that we could be saved from sin and death. Praised be your name as we sing of your mercy that planted the seed of our redemption, and of your glory was made perfect through grace. Hear us in prayer Holy Father, as we cry out for the return of Jesus Christ, and the coming of the New Jerusalem. Come Lord Jesus, and weed this field that we might be perfect in the harvest!
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12-14 ESV
Rich Forbes