Stop feeding your doubts

R ecently, my pastor said, “Stop feeding your doubts.” As soon as he said this, my mind listed about nine-hundred sixty-four things I doubt about myself. Are you feeding your doubts? I feed my doubts very well, feeding my doubts may be the best thing I do.

Shortly after listening to my pastor, I read about the Green Bay Packers player Rasul Douglas.

If anyone dealt with doubts it is Rasul Douglas. Professional football players have short careers and often traded or cut from a team. Professional players are paid well, but they endure much suffering and doubts their entire career.

Consider this short description of Rasul Douglas by Schuyler Callihan, in his after-game comments, “Douglas, has been with five organizations over the past year bouncing from practice squad to practice squad and had not been given a chance despite having the best year of his career a year ago with the Carolina Panthers. For some reason, the Packers just seem to fit.

Packers quarterback, Super Bowl champion, MVP, future Football Hall of Famer and Packers Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers said of Douglas, “Talk about an all-time pick-up mid-season, Rasul Douglas has changed our defense, changed our team. I’m proud of our guys. It’s not pretty but it’s a win and we’re 12-3 and still control everything that we need to control right now.”

Rasul Douglas had his doubts after being traded and cut by five different NFL teams, but those doubts are being erased by his game plays, attitude, humility, and his new home with the Green Bay Packers.

From the Bible we can learn from people who struggled with their doubts.

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).

Gideon, (one of my favorite people in the Bible), said to God, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?

And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian” (Judges 6:13).

The father who brought his son to Jesus and said, “But if You can do anything take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “If You Can!” All things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:21-24). Jesus healed the boy.

We feed our doubts in many ways; our negative thoughts, what others speak into our lives, poor decisions, dwelling on past events, the unfairness of life, verbal, physical, sexual abuse, and the choice to not forgive others even if they never ask for forgiveness.

The Bible contains a long list of people who dealt with their doubts. But what about overcoming our doubts? How can we put an end to doubting ourselves and God?

First, God already knows our struggles and doubts.

The best we can do is express our struggles and doubts to God. God does listen to us, but we need to listen to God and read His Word.

Second, we need to understand that faith overcomes our doubts. Strengthen your faith in God and His Word.

If you watch television for two to three hours per day, consider spending that time doing things that will build and strengthen your faith.

Read God’s Word, listen to faith podcasts, or faith filled music.

Third, put your faith into action. We read, “What use is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Even so faith if it has no works, is dead, being my itself. But someone may well say, you have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:14, 17,18).

All through our lives we will struggle and feed our doubts. But, when a person strengthens their faith in God, and begins to put into action his or her faith, doubts weaken and soon they serve only to remind us that they drop powerless behind us when we allow God to work in and through us.

Are you feeding your faith or your doubts?

Clayton P. Adams, West Memphis, AR email: claytonpadamslll@gmail.com.

Clayton Adams