Faith for Your Darkest Days
If faith is necessary to overcoming the things we face in life, what do we do when we have times of doubt? What do we do when all we have hoped for is faltering, when the future looks bleak, and when we aren’t quite sure if God is actually going to pull us through this time?
Is it acceptable to be uncertain about how God is working?
If you have ever doubted if God was alive and working, you are in good company. After the resurrection, the apostles, some of Jesus’ closest friends, doubted that He had risen. Yet Jesus had made God’s plan so clear that Pilate and the Jews had placed soldiers to guard the tomb. When the apostles still doubted His resurrection, Scripture explains,
“Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’ So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:36-43 (NKJV)
The disciples had the evidence of all Christ had done in the past and the evidence of Him standing right in front of them, yet some still doubted. You may have doubts in your present situation even though you have seen God work in the past or currently see Him working around you. But God wants to say to you, “Have faith; there is evidence that I am here for you,” and often He will give you more evidence to increase your faith.
When we doubt or cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief” Mark 9:24b (NKJV), God will be faithful to “increase our faith,” Luke 17:5b (NKLV) by increasing evidence to back it up.
When we have doubts about how God is working in our lives, He tells us to look at the evidence of His work in our lives and all around us. We can test whether God is working in our lives by looking at what has already happened to us. When we look at what He has done, it will speak loudly that God has worked in our lives already, and then we can have faith that He will continue to work on our behalf. If doubt remains, listen to what Paul said: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
When we have faith in God, He will give us everything we need to overcome the things in our lives by the evidence of the things He has already done for us.
My life was forever changed following a tragic car accident at the age of eleven, and afterwards the doctors were unsure of how well I would recover from my injuries. But I always had faith in God’s word to me. After God spoke to me in a dream, I would continually assert that I was going to walk out of the hospital, get home and go upstairs to my bed, despite the doctors telling my parents that they would have to make a bedroom downstairs for me. I was clear about what God had spoken to me and in the end, God proved Himself faithful. By faith in His truth, I did walk out of the hospital and I did walk upstairs to my bedroom.
I can say without doubt that I have faith in God because faith is based on evidence.
There is undeniable evidence that God exists.
There is undeniable evidence that God is faithful to those who serve Him. And there is undeniable evidence that God has been present in my past, and therefore, there is evidence that He will continue to work in my life now and in the future. As I live my life forward, my faith in God’s presence and power is continually increased.