Doubtstorms

[abigya]

DOUBTSTORMS
by Max Lucado

On Sundays I stand before a church with a three-point outline in my hand,
thirty minutes on the clock, and a prayer on my lips. I do my best to say
something that will convince a stranger that an unseen God still hears.

And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt.

Do you ever get doubtstorms? Some of you don’t, I know. I’ve talked to you.

I think you are gifted. You are gifted with faith. You can see the rainbow
before the clouds part. If you have this gift, then I won’t say anything
you need to hear.

But others of you wonder...

You wonder if it is a blessing or a curse to have a mind that never rests.
But you would rather be a cynic than a hypocrite, so you continue to pray
with one eye open and wonder:

- about starving children
- about the power of prayer
- about the depths of grace
- about Christians in cancer wards
- about who you are to ask such questions anyway.

Tough questions. Throw-in-the-towel questions. Questions the disciples must
have asked in the storm.

The light came for the disciples. A figure came to them walking on the
water. It wasn’t what they expected. Perhaps they were looking for angels
to descend or heaven to open. Maybe they were listening for a divine
proclamation to still the storm. We don’t know what they were looking for.
But one thing is for sure, they weren’t looking for Jesus to come walking
on the water.

“‘It’s a ghost,’ they said and cried out in fear” (Matt. 14:26).

And since Jesus came in a way they didn’t expect, they almost missed seeing
the answer to their prayers.

And unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake.
God’s lights in our dark nights are as numerous as the stars, if only we’ll
look for them.

When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they
called him a ghost. A phantom. A hallucination. To them, the glow was
anything but God.

When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction.
We dismiss occasional kindness as apparitions, accidents, or anomalies.
Anything but God.

“When Jesus comes,” the disciples in the boat may have thought, “he’ll
split the sky. The sea will be calm. The clouds will disperse.”

“When God comes,” we doubters think, “all pain will flee. Life will be
tranquil. No questions will remain.”

And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle. Because we listen
for the shout, we miss the whisper.

 

[maciek]

Doubts and storms will be always there..

As long as our life is a journey, crossing the sea of life, there will be always storms and doubts. The storms can be personal crissis, community or family crissis or the national one. Yes Jesus is there silently watching the way we are surrendering to Him all our fears and doubts. He will calm the storm if we give to Him.

 

[Word of Life]

Yes that doubt, it's always been there and a tough one. The first doubt was from Eve. As she listened to the serpent instead of following and listening to God voice.

Centering outselves towards God is the answer, sometimes the battle might last for a few hours or day or two. Just keep praying and focus on Jesus, as he has won the battle for us. We just need to believe it.

Here is something I was reading last week, which I pulled off the internet.

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How can I take control of my thoughts?
Question: "How can I take control of my thoughts?"

Answer: Taking control of your thoughts is essential. Proverbs 4:23 states: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Someone said that every sin we commit, we commit twice: once in our thoughts and then in action form. And, as the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer, we can either grieve or please Him by our thought life (Ephesians 4:30). And it is easiest to rid our lives of sin if we attack it at this fundamental level rather than waiting for it to become rooted in our lives and then try to pull it out.

There is also a difference between being tempted (a thought entering into our mind) and sinning (dwelling upon an evil thought and developing the theme of the thought that entered our mind). It is important that when a thought enters our mind, that we examine it based upon God's Word and determine if we should continue down that path or reject the thought and replace it with another path. If we have already allowed a habit to form in our thought lives, it becomes more difficult to change the path of our thoughts even as it is hard to get a car out of a deep rut and along a new track. Here are some biblical suggestions in taking control of your thoughts and getting rid of wrong thoughts:

1. Be in God's Word so that when a sinful thought enters your mind (a temptation), you will be able to recognize it and know what course to take your thoughts down. Jesus, when tempted in Mathew chapter 4, responded to each of Satan's temptation with Scripture that applied to the direction that his mind and life should take instead of taking the path of the sinful thought. When tempted to meet his own need (turn stone into bread), he brought up the passage that talks about the importance of relying upon God. When tempted to serve Satan in order to obtain the glory of the world, He brought up the passages that says we are to serve and worship God alone and speak of the glory that belongs to Him and those who are His.

When tempted to test God (prove to ourselves that God is really there and will keep His promises), He responded with passages that stress the importance of believing God without having to see Him demonstrate His presence. Quoting Scripture in a time of temptation is not a "talisman," but rather is to serve the purpose of getting our minds back down a biblical track, but we need to know the Word of God AHEAD of time in order to accomplish this. Thus, a daily habit of being in the Word in a meaningful way is essential. If you are aware of a certain area of constant temptation (worry, lust, anger, etc.), I encourage you to work on studying and memorizing key passages that deal with these issues. Look for both what you are to avoid (negative) and how you are to properly respond (positive) to tempting thoughts in these areas.

2. Live in dependence upon the Holy Spirit...chiefly through seeking His strength through prayer (Matthew 26:41). If we rely upon our own strength, we will fail (Proverbs 28:26; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 26:33).

3. Do not feed your mind that which will promote sinful thoughts. This is the idea of Proverbs 4:23. Guard your heart...what you allow into it and what you allow it to dwell on. Job 31:1 states: "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman" (NKJV). Romans 13:14 states, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Thus, avoid periodicals, videos, web-sites, and times and situations that will set you up for a fall.

4. Pursue hard after God. Replace sinful thoughts with godly pursuits and thoughts. This is the principle of replacement. When tempted to hate someone, you replace those hateful thought with godly actions: do good to them, speak well of them, and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). Instead of stealing, work hard to earn money so that you can look for opportunities to give to others in need (Ephesians 4:28). When tempted to lust after a woman, turn one's gaze, praise God for the way He has made us...male and female, pray for the woman (for example: "Lord, help this young woman to come to know you if she does not, and to know the joy of walking with you"); and think of her as you would your sister (put your sister's face on her in your mind) (1 Timothy 5:2). The Bible often speaks of "putting off" wrong actions and thoughts BUT THEN "putting on” godly actions and thoughts (Ephesians 4:22-32). Merely seeking to put off sinful thoughts without replacing those thoughts and pursuits with godly ones leave an empty field for Satan to come along and sow his weeds in (Matthew 12:43-45).

5. Use fellowship with other Christians the way God intended. Hebrews 10:24-25 state, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Seek out a fellow Christian who can encourage you from the Word in the change you desire (best if of the same gender), someone who will pray for you and with you, who will ask you in love how you are doing, and one who will hold you accountable in avoiding the old ways.

May God bless you as you seek to honor Him with what matters most to Him: who you are inside and not just what you appear to be to others. May God make Jesus’ description of Nathanael true also of you...a man in whom there is no guile (John 1:47).