WHEN DOUBTS INVADE OUR THOUGHTS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“I write these things to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God so that you may
know that you have eternal life.”
(1 John 5:13)

MEDITATION:
A woman told evangelist Dwight L. Moody,
“I’ve been saved twenty-five years,
and I’ve never had one single doubt.”

He responded,
“Madam, I doubt you’ve been saved.”

Moody’s thinking was, it would be like a couple saying
they’ve been married 50 years and never had a disagreement.
In that case someone might say,
“I doubt you’ve been married.”

Since we can’t have a face to face conversation with
the Lord, we can ‘think’ we are on the right track,
but still have times when we need assurance.

Doubts aren’t necessarily a bad thing;
doubts can be to our spirit, what pain is to our body.
They can be a signal to us that something is wrong.
We should not brush them away or ignore them.

Pain tells our body that we need to make some adjustments.
Maybe we are putting too much strain on some muscles.
For instance, if we fail to involve our legs when lifting
something heavy, we can injure our back muscles.

Doubt can be what motivates us to see if we need
to make adjustments to our lifestyle, attitudes, etc.
It can also inspire us to see if we are actively and
properly using the spiritual gifts God has given us.

God doesn’t want us to become complacent
or stagnant in our spiritual maturing process.
He wants us to keep moving forward so that we
can, not only be of service to Him, but we can also
enjoy the excitement, benefits, and rewards of using
our spiritual gifts.

Pain can also narrow our focus.
When we are experiencing pain, other things are
not as important as finding a remedy for our pain.
Doubts can also narrow our focus and motivate us
to find a remedy for the doubts we are experiencing.

ACTION:
Similar to pain, doubt can suddenly appear at any time.
When it does, we need to deal with it.
If we aren’t careful Satan can use it as an opportunity to
discourage us and render us ineffective for being used by God.

We can all have periods of doubt about our salvation.
When we do, we know that our remedy can be found in Jesus.
Just as we would reach for a medicine bottle for pain,
we need to reach for God’s Word for doubts.

God may want to speak directly to us
about something in our lives, and when we spend
time reading the bible, we give Him the opportunity
to speak to us through the scriptures.

In addition, we may discover some new truths
in His Word, that we haven’t noticed before
(it could be a scripture that we have read several
times, but God gives us a new revelation of its meaning).

Here are a few scriptures that we can read,
and read again, whenever we are having doubts.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Romans 10:13)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of
this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the
spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the
cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But
because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And
God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming
ages He might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one
can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
(Ephesians 2:1-10)

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but
because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of
rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

Read them, then read them again, then read them slowly one
more time and let the words permeate your mind and soul.
As you do, you can see that one of the remedies for doubt
is to realize and acknowledge you have been changed.

You have a new attitude, a new perspective, and you have
a desire to see others saved, so you want to “do something”
for the Lord.

Your desire to serve is not in order to receive salvation
(you can’t earn it anyway), but is a validation that you
are saved, you are changed, and you want to contribute
in some way to His ministry.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me! Thank
You for wanting to help me become more spiritually
mature. Whenever doubts come to my mind, remind
me that You are speaking to me about some area of
my life that needs to be changed. If temptations are
causing me to give in to sin, strengthen me so that I
can resist them easier. If I am not using the spiritual
gifts You have given me, show me how to start using
them for pointing others to Your Son. If my attitudes
and habits are displeasing You, help me to make the
changes I need to make. Overall, help me to actively
listen for Your voice whenever I have doubts about
my salvation.”

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