Doubt is an ‘is’. It never meets you face on, it always comes at you at the most inconvenient time and in a way that is totally unexpected. Doubt comes in at the basement door or the back door or window – it never comes knocking at the front door. Personally I think doubt is as inevitable as the sun coming up but our problem is to resolve not run from it. Doubt can be insidious – it can gnaw at you and consume your thoughts if you don’t resolve it.
What’s your view of doubt? Is doubt close to blasphemy? Is it cowardice? Is it a failure of faith? Is doubt unbelief? Well yes… if you believed then you wouldn’t have doubt! Is doubt inevitable? What do you do when it emerges into the conscious level of your thinking? Could doubt be a pathway to understanding? You should begin with a definition of doubt because it may not be what you think it is. According to Webster, doubt is: to be uncertain or undecided, a wavering…, lack of trust.
What does the definition of doubt tell you? Simply, that it’s up to you to resolve it. While others can provide their insights, the ultimate decision is yours. But that’s the path to resolution. The opposite path, ignoring or denying, is the other option but it will never work. Eventually doubt will incapacitate you and you will be worse off than you were.
Never run from doubt or you’ll run into fear and then you’ll have a double whammy. Doubt is a form of questioning but you need to go beyond questions to find answers. It will be in the answer that you’ll discover resolution, but you have to start with the questions. Not the least of these is ‘why’. What caused you to doubt in the first place? This is critical to know because if you don’t then you may see it again. Believe it or not, doubt can be helpful – if you meet it head on and know your answer(s). Resolution can be difficult but the fruit is lasting.
