DOUBT

DOUBT!

Matt 14:28-33

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

           Doubt defined: Merriam-Webster declares that there are at least three aspects to doubt. The first is uncertainty. At this point the one struggling with belief does not say that a thing is impossible but rather uncertain. This is the religion of the agnostic. His faith is unconfirmed and so it is not faith at all. The second is distrust which is simply a lack of confidence. The third is to consider something possible but unlikely.

           Peter may have struggled with all three aspects of doubt. First is it possible at all to walk on water? If that water is rigidly frozen then the answer is yes but if that water is tossing and turning due to boisterous winds then uncertainty rules the mind. So now Peter sees Jesus walking on water with no trouble in doing so. Yet Peter is uncertain. Personally, water-walking was untried and so agnosticism ruled. Peter just wasn’t sure. Finally Peter felt that water-walking was unlikely even though Jesus clearly proved it. The only thing left was to get out of the boat and give it a try.

           Peter’s faith, and not the firmness of the water, held him up. When faith became doubt the water went soft beneath him. Faith’s failure precipitated God’s ready rescue and when they both had entered the ship – the wind ceased. I can’t bring myself to see Jesus’ rebuke to be anything but a good natured jab. “Hey, Pete, why did you doubt?” Later a full evaluation of the event caused the entire group to conclude rightly that Jesus was something very special. He was truly the Son of God.

           We all doubt in varying degrees from time to time. It may be uncertainty regarding the outcome of some conflict in our lives or it may that we just don’t trust our own God-given abilities. Perhaps a lack of experience or a lack of practice has not yet produced confidence. We doubt – and doubt is sin.

Dr. Charles Stanley of Atlanta gave this personal definition and evaluation of doubt: “Doubt is a mental struggle over whether or not to believe God's promises. From our limited perspective, we cannot understand how God works. Sometimes His way does not feel like the right path, so in order to obey, we must step out in faith. Then it can feel as though we are jumping off a cliff and trusting God's invisible rope to hold us. If we listen to our doubt, we will surely transgress.”

Dear Lord, many things about today present themselves as uncertain. We simply do not know and cannot trust the outcome. We cannot trust our own resources and strength to win the day and we are inexperienced in the art of walking on water. Give us the courage to simply respond to your invitation and come. Let us keep our eyes on you and not sink. If we sink be ready to save us. AMEN