Speaking Of Life 1022 | Doubt
Heber Ticas
Bleach has been used to clean clothing for centuries. Companies say it will make your clothes sparkling white or gleaming white. Bleach is actually a harsh chemical used on fabric to remove impurities. It gets all the dust, grease and grime off so the white remains.
Doubt is similar to bleach in our lives. Doubt is like a cleaning agent in our minds; it finds impurities of logic and shoddy reasoning and reacts to it.
Too often in Christian circles, doubt is thought of as shameful, even sinful. The phrase “doubting Thomas” isn’t used as a compliment. Too often, the doubter is treated like someone who just won’t get with the program, the proverbial stick in the mud.
But doubt is a natural reaction, a natural solvent that God has given our minds so that falsehood can be washed away, and truth remains. If doubt is sin, then other natural reactions like sneezing or blinking would be sins too!
If we look at the grand sweep of history, certainty, not doubt, has done more damage. Nazis were certain of Hitler’s insane vision; suicide bombers are certain they are doing God’s will. Listening to doubt might have prevented a few catastrophes.
Of course, we know it’s possible to use too much bleach. Too much bleach will go beyond cleaning to burning the fabric and finally leaving a hole.
Too much doubt is called cynicism. The cynic sneers at any structure of thought, any conclusion, any emotional connection and says that all is broken, nothing and no one can be trusted. To overindulge our doubts is to burn a hole through the fabric of faith and life itself.
Doubt, in the sense of natural, healthy questioning, is a reflex God gave us to protect us. Not only is a level of doubt healthy, it can even be worship. Proverbs 25:2 reminds us:
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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
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Let doubt help you work through any falsehood you hear telling you that you are not forgiven, worthy or loved. Let the truth wash you like bleach, taking away the impurities and leaving you clean and bright in the eyes of God.
I’m Heber Ticas, speaking of life.