Word Wednesday

Doubt.

That part of our mind that questions what is real.  The part of our gut that raises it's hand when certainty commands all the spotlight.  The moments we realize that truth that, "If you are always the smartest one in the room, you are in the wrong rooms."

Doubt.

So often we have been taught and told that faith and doubt are opposites or even in opposition.  You can only have one, like when you had to choose what flavor sucker you got from the doctor.  But maybe doubt and faith need not be adversarial but advisory to each other.  Doubt can be questioning.  The root of questioning is, "Quest".  Our questions take us somewhere.  Our doubts invite us to go some place.

Doubt.

But often we think that the road trip doubt wants us to travel can't lead anywhere good.  Or we think that we have to cling to faith with our fist so tight that our knuckles turn white.  Faith isn't a possession, faith is often a journey.  Faith is like a flowing river.  Faith, like doubt, wants to take us somewhere.  One of my favorite book titles that I read in seminary was, "Faith is a verb."  You don't have faith, faith has you.  Faith guide us.  Faith is the one who whispers in your ear, "Let's go." 

Doubt

So, maybe you are now thinking of faith as the good GPS and doubt as the devil GPS...so you have to listen to the good angel on your shoulder.  But, I believe such dualistic thinking is hazardous.  Doubt can take us good places...faith can sometimes lead us to say things that cause a lot of hurt.  For example, I have heard people say to someone who has had a loved one die, "Well, God needed another angel."  Now, if that is your perspective, that is your perspective.  But when we shove our stuff onto others we can wound them in ways you may never know.

Doubt

That reminder that I am not as smart as I think I am.  I make plenty of boneheaded mistakes everyday to have enough evidence to convict me in any court of my less-than-brilliance.  Doubt becomes the brake that says, "Let's pray on this."  Doubt can be the reminder that God doesn't always agree with my opinions.  Doubt is the fuel that feed my faith more than certainty.

What doubts have you tried to push down?
What ways have you distanced yourself from doubt?
How might doubt actually be a way to encounter a trace of God's grace in these days?

Many blessings ~~