29
Dec '18
Faith in the Doubt
29
Dec '18
Remember when Mary found favor with God? Remember the angel told Mary that she was going to conceive and give birth to the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32)? What was Mary’s initial response? Was it “Thank you God for bestowing upon me this blessing?”. No, it wasn’t that. What about “Thank you God for allowing me to conceive the One who will be called the “Most HIgh”?” No, that wasn’t it either. It was “How can this happen?” Mary knew how this worked. How was this going to happen, and how was this happening?
Luke 1:29-34 NLT “Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor, David, and He will reign over Israel forever; His Kingdom will never end!”. Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
“How can this happen?” Isn’t that always our response when God knocks on our doors with something we don’t understand? How do I move forward? How is this happening? Why me? Why now? Understand, even Mary had initial doubts. My guess is that she had to allow herself to process the information she was given, and understand and re-remind herself that God was in control of her life. “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” – Luke 1:38 NLT And then the angel left her. Luke 1:45 NLT (paraphrased) – Mary was blessed because she believed that the Lord would do what He said.
How is a good starting place for realizing our blessings. How is a good starting place for realizing that God is at work in our lives. How is our first line of defense when something doesn’t make sense to us, but knowing that it makes perfect sense to God. I’ve been there. When our world is rocked with “Why is this happening?”, our mind can go into a million different scenarios of the future and how it plays out. But, at that time when I was so confused and wondering how this was going to “get better” and how this was going to look as far as my “future”, I had to stop and realize that God was in control from the beginning, and He’s never NOT been in control. Wow – doesn’t that ease doubt? Doesn’t that bring peace?
So, you can see how the greatest gifts that God provides to us are on the other side of the “How?”, and the other side of “Why is this happening to me?”, and on the other side of “I don’t understand!”. That’s where the gift is found. God doesn’t ask us to figure it out because we know the One who can (and does!) – and that’s Him.
Remember, God is always purposeful. Everything He does in our lives is purposeful. What did YOU lose? A job, a relationship, a loved one? It’s hard to not doubt that there is purpose in times as these, but we will find when we trust in Him (even when we have “doubt”), He reveals His purpose to us, in His timing. God promised that He has good plans for us! He shapes our lives and guides our steps to fulfill His plan (no, not MY plan, HIS plan).
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”- Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
If you sometimes struggle with doubt, you’re not alone. The greatest gifts that God gives to us are sometimes initially wrapped in doubt. Hey – if Mary could doubt, I think that means we’re in good company. We just can’t make doubt our home and stay there.
Trust Him.
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*Dena*
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