GOD’S HAND AT WORK

As others joined me in fasting and prayer, we saw hundreds of individuals come to Christ and be baptized. We witnessed God’s hand at work.

They asked us to prepare for intensive ministry by fasting and praying each Tuesday for a month. I dutifully put a reminder on my calendar. I discovered those Tuesdays deepened my time in God’s Word, strengthened my prayer life, and sharpened my focus. When the ministry event began, my heart was where it was meant to be. As others joined me in fasting and prayer, we saw hundreds of individuals come to Christ and be baptized. We witnessed God’s hand at work.

RECIPE FOR FRUSTRATION

In Mark 9:14-29, nine of the disciples didn’t see God’s hand at work. An altercation arose between the scribes, nine disciples, and one frustrated father. The disciples were abysmal failures in healing the demon-possessed boy. Earlier, Jesus sent the same group of disciples out two by two on a successful mission trip. Didn’t they remember seeing God’s hand at work up close in Mark 6:12-13? Why were they now standing in the street, arguing about their futile exercise?

GOD APPRECIATES HONESTY

Jesus is not happy with the disciples and rebukes them sharply. The boy’s father is desperate. He begs Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.’” The father replies, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Finally, some honesty. Jesus is more than willing to enter the situation if the father is upfront. God can redeem the situation.

WHAT DOES GOD REDEEM?

What does God redeem? Some misinterpret this passage as “name it and claim it.” RC Sproul wrote: “In the Christian world, we have simplistic ministries that reference faith healing and say to people, ‘All you have to do is believe, and if you believe strongly enough, you can move mountains, and you can make anything happen you want to make happen.’” But about God’s plan? Often it doesn’t align with our plans. This Mark text is not a blanket, universal promise that says, “Anything that you believe will happen, will happen.” But it promises that God can redeem any situation for His glory.

HOW TO FACE A FOE

When we face a formidable foe, it’s not enough to depend only on the reservoir of faith in our souls. First order of business: kneel and plead with God. We must use all the means of grace He has given His people, and then see God work out His best. RC Sproul recalls a speaking engagement in Korea. The church had about ten thousand members. Sproul’s party arrived at the venue at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning and hit a huge traffic jam. Hundreds of cars were leaving the parking lot. Sproul remembered wondering, “What’s this? Are the people leaving us already? We haven’t even started the conference. Then we learned that on that Saturday morning at 6:30, 1,000 people gathered for an hour of prayer. In fact, 1,000 people gather at that church almost every morning to pray for the things of God.” Sproul interviewed the pastor, who replied, “This emanates from the Korean church in Seoul, Korea. That’s the secret that the Koreans learned during the war: nothing builds faith among people like prayer.” The pastor asked Sproul how his church prayed.

Sproul replied, embarrassed, “Well, we have a prayer meeting going on in our church, and a handful of people are involved.” A “handful of people” for the ministry that holds up the entire church???

WHAT THE DISCIPLES LACKED

As for the nine disciples, besides faith, what did they lack in this situation? Kingdom-focused prayer! That’s what I discovered on Tuesdays this past September, what RC Sproul saw firsthand in Korea, and what the disciples learned at the base of the mount.

HOW TO SEE GOD’S HAND AT WORK

Want to see God’s hand at work? Your faith and prayers never run on autopilot. Ask God what state your prayer life is in. Be honest. Do you regularly pray with a person or a group? Ask God to stretch your prayer life. When you combine intense prayer with faith, you will see God’s hand at work.

Click to read the value of praying with others.

MY BEST EFFORTS TO CHANGE MYSELF

I thought if I worked harder, I could become a better person. But my best efforts to change myself failed.

I was a wiz kid in Vacation Bible School. I memorized every verse, sang every song loudly, and won every prize. On the outside, I followed most of the rules, but inside, my life was a mess. I didn’t understand that God could change my heart, my inner life. The Bible stories I knew were great stories. I loved David and Goliath, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, and Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Who doesn’t love a story where the good guys win? Didn’t these heroes just try harder than anyone else? I thought if I worked harder, I could become a better person. But my best efforts to change myself failed.

HOW COULD I CHANGE?

Every summer, my parents sent me to a Christian camp where I learned a lot about the Bible. But to me, it was just information. Nothing changed. I needed transformation, a complete overhaul of my inner life. What was I supposed to do? How could I change?

MY FIRST STEP IN CHANGE

Finally, one night around the campfire, I understood God’s gift. For the thousandth time, I heard John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This time I finally responded. I understood that if I were the only person on earth, Jesus still would have come and died for my sins. I prayed, and Jesus took my sins away. Something definitely changed.

DIDN’T CHRIST LEAVE FOR HIS NEXT PROJECT?

I thought He came only to save my soul. I assumed Jesus said, “Good luck with the Christian life.” Didn’t He then leave, whistling down the road, going on to the next person?  I didn’t understand that Jesus wanted to be my permanent Savior and friend. He wanted an ongoing relationship. What did that mean?

WHOSE WORK WAS IT?

Wasn’t it just up to me to try harder at living a good life? A verse that significantly changed my spiritual journey was: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). What was I to do with this nugget? Wait a minute! Do you mean that all my positive thinking and making resolutions were futile? Couldn’t I master the power for permanent change?

TEMPTATION TO TRY CHANGE WITHOUT GOD

Could I trust Him to work in my life every day? Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust the Lord with all our hearts. Megan Marshman gives an excellent example. “My temptation is to try to change without God, to say in the flesh, ‘Self, stop worrying.’ Here’s what I can say instead: ‘God, I’m worried—help me take all of this to You. God, search me. Here’s my worry. Let me tell You about it. Teach me about it.’” God wants to be the architect and powerhouse behind the changes in my life. Hand over the reins and trust in Him.

MY TRANSFORMED PRAYER

I began to open my whole heart to Him: the good, the bad, and the ugly. My prayers transformed to: “God, clearly show me what’s in there. I can’t change anything by myself. Forgive me, and regardless of whether pain is involved or not, please work permanent change in my life by Your power and in Your timeline. I’m listening to You.” Trying harder on my own got me nowhere. Being honest with God and depending on Him totally gets me everywhere.

What about you? Do you want lasting change? You can be honest and trust Him. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). The God of creation doesn’t give up on His creations.

Click to hear how faith can change you.

NOT IN OUR PLANS

Hearing the test results left us completely confused. We didn’t understand. This was not in our plans.

Bill’s first hospital stay began in November 2025. He was seriously ill, and the doctors used the terms “heart failure,” “kidney failure,” and “emergency dialysis.” Those words shook us to the core. We arrived at the ER simply thinking Bill’s asthma was acting up. Hearing the test results left us completely confused. Ominous, grim foreboding enveloped our hearts. We didn’t understand. This was not in our plans.

DEATH NOT IN THEIR PLANS

In Mark 9:2-13, do you think the Disciples were also completely confused? The Transfiguration happened six days after Peter confessed Jesus as Messiah. What had gone wrong? Right after Peter’s confession, Jesus told the Disciples He must suffer and die. That’s the last thing they wanted to hear. Offended, Peter “took him [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke Him” (Mark 8:32). Peter is sharply rebuked by Christ, and “the disciples move with an attitude of ominous, grim foreboding. All they can think about are these terrible words that Jesus had spoken to them. Christ was moving towards death” (R.C. Sproul). They did not want Christ’s prophecy to be true. Death was not in their plans.

HOW TO COUNTER DARKNESS

How does God counter this cloud of darkness? With light. Peter, James, and John (probably the rowdiest of the Disciples) are called up to the mountain. Sproul continues, “For all His earthly life, the incarnate Logos, the second person of the Trinity, has His glory hidden and veiled in the cloak of Jesus’ humanity, but now suddenly before the eyes of the disciples bursts forth the full deity of Christ.” Christ’s “face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). This is not a reflection of light (i.e., the moon reflects the sun), but the source of light is Jesus, mentioned repeatedly in the Bible (John 1:14, John 8:12,John 12:46).This is the Shekinah Glory, the light greater than 1,000 suns. It shatters the darkness because it is God’s plan.

PETER’S PLANS

On the mount, the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. What were they talking about? Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the Prophets. Moses and Elijah both knew Jesus came to die, and why (Matthew 5:17). However, impulsive Peter just can’t hold it in and brashly interrupts. This is the Messiah’s moment, but Peter makes his own plans.

MANKIND’S PLANS REBEL AGAINST GOD’S

Ah, mankind’s plans rebel against God’s. Peter is silenced as a voice announces out of the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!” In the coming days, the Disciples often failed to listen or obey, but the Father’s words eventually took root in their hearts. Knowing Jesus as the Christ changed Peter, James, and John’s lives and the course of world history. They had to learn to trust Christ’s plans and direction completely.  Only when they trusted their own plans did the foreboding cloud of doom surround the Disciples.

HOW TO BREAK FREE OF FEAR

Are you stuck in that dark cloud? Confused? Afraid? Megan Marshman writes: “The Holy Spirit gives you one step at a time, expecting you to look back to Him for what’s next and then to do that over and over again. He even graciously knows how to reroute you and use all your missed turns to get you to where He is taking you.” Bill and I learned this during 5 hospital stays. Peter, James, and John learned to trust Christ, even when their hearts and plans were shattered. Leave the darkness and release your plans to the One whose “face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”

SO, SO BUSY!

Something had to go. “We stay so busy that the truth of our lives can’t catch up”

I assumed that in the course of seven days I could substitute-teach at least two full days, teach an adult writing class, have six women over to my home for a book study, do all my online publishing, copy-edit writing submissions, rehearse two hours with an adult choir, attend a discipleship group via Zoom, learn a new computer skill online, and do all my regular texts and phone calls to stay in touch with people I care about. So, so busy; rest was notably absent from the calendar.

WHERE WAS REST, JOY AND TIME WITH JESUS?

I crashed and burned. It makes me exhausted just to write all that down. I missed rest, quiet, joy, and time with Jesus. At the end of the week, I looked at the schedule and realized I was bonkers. Something had to go. “We stay so busy that the truth of our lives can’t catch up” (Brené Brown). In my speed to get ahead, I brushed God’s plans aside.

MISSING THE IMPORTANT THINGS

For personalities like mine, it is easy to miss the important things. Easy to confuse achievement with worth. I’m so glad God doesn’t confuse the two. Each activity on my list was important, but is it God’s plan for all those activities to be on my plate? Isn’t it arrogant to think I am the only person who can do it all? I don’t earn more of God’s love by being busy; He already loves me totally.

WHAT DID GOD HAVE IN MIND?

So, God and I sat on the back porch. The yard was quiet, but my mind kept racing. A chorus of alarm bells had been sounding all week. It took time for my soul to settle down enough to listen. What was on God’s mind?

GOOD QUESTIONS

“All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up” (I Corinthians 10:23-24). The activities were lawful, but were they all helpful? Did I sign up because of guilt or because God called me? Did the items on my calendar serve Kingdom Purpose as part of God’s individual plan for my life? Were others called to do the jobs I so quickly inserted myself into? Being so busy, I lost touch with God’s voice. Definitely, not everything on my schedule was helpful.

MOMENT OF DECISION

This stopped me in my tracks. A repentant response followed. I resigned from both the choir and the Zoom group. I promised not to educate myself more on online publishing until it was essential. Also, I vowed not to substitute teach more than two full days/week. Then, I smiled.

God can take care of His own. He already had many wonderful, talented singers in the choir I belonged to; the Zoom conference calls interfered with an individual God had already called me to work with, and by then I had enough notes on the computer skill. Those subtractions freed up at least eight hours per week. Rather than being rushing ahead of God’s truth, His Word finally got in front of me. Hallelujah!

WHAT DOES GOD HAVE IN MIND?

Have you brought your plans before God? Are you ready to obey Him and remove yourself from anything He wants to subtract? “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up.”  Look at your schedule and quiet down enough to listen. What does God have in mind? You are His beloved child. Hand Him your calendar.

Read about God’s take on busyness.

NOT ALL ABOUT ME

Peter thought he knew more than God, but he faced total humiliation

In 5th grade, during recess, I, a non-athlete, was playing Keep-Away against the boys. Proudly, I grabbed the ball, and in my moment of triumph, I promptly turned around and ran square into the steel volleyball pole. I lost the point, consciousness, and ended up with two black eyes from the impact. When I grabbed the ball, I thought it was all about me, but the next minute I lay in the dirt, totally humiliated.

peter’s shining moment

Mark 8:27-9:1: Disciple Peter thought he won the game. At the beginning of this passage, Jesus asks the Disciples who they think He is. Peter answers Him, “You are the Christ.” Yay Peter! He finally got it right! Honor student! Peter thought he got the win.

total humiliation

Jesus then warns the disciples He would “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Despite Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, Peter refused to associate the prophecies with the Messiah. Jesus responded by rebuking Peter and saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  Peter thought he knew more than God, but he faced total humiliation.

PETER’S ASSUMPTIONS

Till that rebuke from Jesus, Peter assumed his Messiah would come, conquer the Romans, give all the Disciples thrones, and bring the final touchdown. Jesus popped that balloon by saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

DEFINITION OF DENY

“Denying self”? Ray Stedman observes: “The word ‘deny’ means to disavow any connection with something, to state that you are not connected in any way with whatever is in view. It is the word used to describe Peter’s denial of Jesus as he stood in the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14:66-72). Peter prioritized self-preservation by denying any association with Christ. Do I prioritize self and disconnect myself from Christ?

LORDSHIP?

If Jesus is my Lord, I cannot consider myself the master of my own life. Peter was initially appalled at the concept of Lordship. Who wants to go on a one-way trip to the cross? But that is the exact route Jesus chose for Himself. In Luke 22:42-43, Jesus was sweating bullets but decided to give up all rights to Himself.

DENYING SELF CAN BE TOUGH

Sometimes, denying self is tougher than other times. Ever been first in the checkout line when someone cuts ahead? If you glare at the offender and tell them what a turkey they are, you are glorifying self instead of Christ. Or what if Church Board member Jerry gets into a screaming match in the parking lot with Elder Mark over the expense of the new church sound system? Are they denying their pride and anger? Maybe volunteer Sarah signs up for the church nursery to help an entire month, but then decides that she really doesn’t want to get up that early on Sunday mornings. At the last minute, Sarah cancels four Sundays in a row. Does Sarah trust God enough to deny herself?

TOOLS FOR LEARNING SELF-DENIAL

Denying self is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We don’t learn this by willpower, as if our will can conquer it on its own. By handing the reins over to the Holy Spirit, we can be empowered to learn to deny self. Dying to self is an absolute surrender to God. Don’t be like Peter and me. We both faced total humiliation when we didn’t learn to surrender.

Click to read an excellent piece on surrender.

OUR ROUGH TRIP HOME

All the side streets leading to our bridge were closed and underwater. We proceeded very slowly and the water grew deeper and deeper.

We were caught in last weekend’s Nor’easter that roared up the seaboard. The storm didn’t take us by surprise, but the floodwaters did. We were supposed to stay in Wildwood Crest, NJ, through Sunday, but we could see the tides growing stronger and the water rising. We prayed before leaving the hotel. Bill and I had no idea how rough the trip home would be.

CLOSED BRIDGES

Three primary drawbridges connect the Wildwoods to the mainland of Cape May County. We pulled out of the hotel, knowing emergency services planned to close down the bridges at 2 PM. Leaving at 10:30 AM, we drove through flooded streets toward the closest bridge. Quickly, we discovered that all the side streets leading to that bridge were closed and underwater. Change of plans. We proceeded very slowly on the central street toward the bridge north of Wildwood. The water grew deeper and deeper.

ONLY ONE DRIVER

One more complication. At this point, I was the only driver. Before we knew we would be leaving that day, Bill took his prescription for his back pain. He is not permitted to drive with that med in his system. Hence, Bill was out of commission.

HIGH STANDING WATER ALL AROUND

At the wheel, all I could envision were those videos of cars unexpectedly floating away in a pool of high standing water. How high does it have to get? For several blocks we followed a vehicle with New York plates. We figured if anyone knew the way out, they would. We knew we were in trouble when even he turned around.

AN ANGEL AT WAWA

What to do? We prayed. In the pouring rain, we found a WaWa open and inundated by customers. In the coffee line, I kept asking, “How can we find a bridge that is still open?” God sent his angel. A dear man replied, “Go over to Pacific Avenue, follow it straight for miles, and it will take you to the Cape May bridge, where you can catch the Coastal Highway.”

COUNTERINTUITIVE DIRECTIONS

It seemed counterintuitive. He was telling me to travel south (further into the storm) to find a bridge that might not be open. Without any other options (my GPS was of no help), we made a right out of the parking lot and followed Pacific Ave. for the next several miles. I began to doubt the man’s directions as I saw many cars approaching us and very few heading the same direction we were.

a bridge in sight

Eventually we drove by the marshland where we saw debris from earlier waters covering the road, but the waters were receding. We didn’t have to drive through flooding as in Wildwood. Then there was the bridge!!!! We crossed and made it to the Coastal Highway and eventually home.

presence of god

God was there with us during our entire trip. He knew about the floodwaters in Wildwood. God sent an angel to stand at the WaWa coffee bar. Even when my GPS kept angrily telling me to turn around, God kept us on the right path. My husband kept praying and encouraging me when all I could envision was our car floating away. We had no idea how rough the trip home would be, but God knew and He cared.

god’s gift

As Paul reminds Timothy, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (II Timothy 1:7). God is the Giver of good gifts regardless of the tide!

Click to read more about the Spirit of Power and Endurance.

MY BLURRED VISION

It is embarrassing to stumble and fall. The Disciples also tripped a lot, but usually over Jesus’ teachings.

Due to my vision impairment, I often can’t see objects right in front of me. It is embarrassing to stumble and fall. The Disciples also tripped a lot, but usually over Jesus’ teachings. Sometimes they asked Jesus what He meant, but if their blurred spiritual vision didn’t welcome it, they ignored or rejected what was right in front of them. Peter envisioned a King who would grant Peter’s wishes, not a crucifixion. He tripped over God’s plan and had the nerve to rebuke Jesus. Can you hear the exasperation in Jesus’s voice when He asked the Disciples, “Don’t you understand yet?” (Mark 8:21) The Word was amongst them, but their spiritual vision was blurred, at best. They tripped all over the place.

SPIT IN THE EYE

To an extent, the Disciples believed Jesus; after all, they kept accompanying Him even when times were tough. In Mark 8:22-26, at Bethsaida, they witnessed the spitting incident. The blind man’s friends brought him to Jesus for a unique encounter. Jesus took the man by the hand, guided him out of the village, where Jesus did the unthinkable. He spit in the man’s eyes. I’ve had friends pray for my deteriorating vision, but no one has offered to spit in my eyes.

NO LONGER BLIND, BUT STILL NOT CLEAR

A fog still obscured the blind man’s physical vision. The small group witnessing this were the Disciples, the same group whose spiritual vision was blurred, at best. Some call this a parable/miracle; a miracle which also illustrates a biblical truth. In step two of the miracle, the formerly blind man’s vision was fuzzy. Just as fuzzy as the Disciples’ spiritual vision.

BLURRY NOT GOOD ENOUGH


The Disciples often saw only what they wanted to see. They rarely let Jesus be their spiritual lens. Jesus refused to stop there. Remember the blind man? The man first admitted he was blind and then confessed (after the spit) that his sight wasn’t clear. He didn’t say, “You know what, blurry is good enough.”  Jesus was not satisfied with semi-healed, blurred vision. The same applied to the Disciples’ blurred spiritual vision.

TIME FOR CONFESSION

As a believer, how often do I honestly confess before both God and men that my spiritual vision is fuzzy? I desperately need my eyes opened by the Holy Spirit, but I don’t admit my need. I may show up and do all kinds of religious activities, but lack honesty in asking for a consuming thirst to know God. My prayers dry up, and my vision remains blurred. Is this your current condition?

SYMPTOMS OF LACK OF CLARITY

“Jesus laid His hands on his eyes; and the man stared intently and [his sight] was [completely] restored, and he began to see everything clearly.” That’s what Jesus wanted for the man and for us: complete clarity in vision. The Disciples, along with us, suffered “Spiritual Dry Eye Syndrome”. Symptoms are: a dry prayer life, spiritual apathy, lack of meditation in the Word, confusion regarding God’s Word, and lack of concern for others and those who don’t know Christ. It can be healed. God wants to purify and renew our spiritual vision. Don’t settle for less. Run to Him!

For further encouragement, click to read Calvary Hanford’s thoughts on this passage.

LAND OF DOUBT

I experience an undercurrent of doubt whenever I face a new project. In my recurring nightmare I forget Who God is.

I’m preparing to lead two different classes. Under pressure, I have a recurring nightmare and wake up in a sweat. In the dream, my classroom is not stocked, the students are wildly out of control, and I have forgotten to bring any of my teaching materials. Even though God has repeatedly supplied over the years in countless high-pressure situations, I still experience an undercurrent of doubt whenever I face a new project. In my recurring nightmare in the Land of Doubt, I forget Who God is.

SPIRITUAL AMNESIA

In Mark 8:1-21, the Disciples also experienced spiritual amnesia. The clock is ticking, and the crucifixion is less than a year away. Jesus leads the 12 into the territory of their enemies: the Gentiles. The Gentile mother’s daughter is healed, and Jesus provides a miracle meal for over 4,000 Gentiles. The leftovers from feeding of the 5,000 were 12 small baskets, but the leftovers from the 4,000 are 7 large hampers. Jesus is preparing the Disciples for the Great Commission: to go outside of Judea and to the ends of the earth. Their faith must stretch, but the 12 often dwell in the shadow of the Land of Doubt.

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FAITH

Mark’s record reveals different levels of faith. The Gentile woman shines. The Disciples’ faith appears jumbled, often responding in confusion. At the bottom of the pile are the Pharisees. They track Jesus down, choose to ignore all His past miracles, and demand an astral miracle. Remember the story of Pharaoh? God kept piling up the plagues and the miracles, and Pharaoh’s heart grew harder. The Pharisees’ hearts are rock hard. John MacArthur writes, “When confronted by the light, they ran deeper into the shrouded gloom of their self-righteous traditions.” Most of the Pharisees lived in total darkness, well beyond the land of doubt.

MUDDLED FAITH

Have you ever experienced confusion in your faith? Do you think that clarity relies on you and your own abilities rather than the God Who hung the stars in place? In the boat, the disciples sat with the One Who had just fed 4,000 Gentile men. However, “they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.” They are next to the One Who supplied manna for forty years to the Israelites, but their faith is muddled because of the state of their bellies. The last thing they had to worry about was food, yet doubt came to play.

Can you hear Jesus sigh? “He directed nine rapid questions to them. The first five reproved them for their obtuseness. The last four rebuked them for worrying about the supply of their needs as long as He was with them. Had He not fed 4,000 with 7 loaves, leaving 7 hampers full over? Yes, He had. Then why did they not understand that He was abundantly able to supply the needs of a handful of disciples in a boat? Didn’t they realize that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe was in the boat with them?” (Believer’s Bible Commentaryby William MacDonald).

WHO IS IN THE BOAT?

Thank God, the Sustainer of the universe is in the boat with me as I commence to teach my new classes. I work to prepare, but the ultimate conditions and results are all in His hands. Continually, I ask God to remind me Who He is and all the paths He has led me through.

Do you remember Who God is when you face your worst nightmare? Remember, He is in the boat with you. God never turns down the prayer of one who honestly prays, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

DEALING WITH DOUBT

I personally experienced doubts while spending an extended time in the hospital. My doubts bubbled to the surface.

You’re driving down the highway, and you come to a stop sign. You stop. You look both ways before proceeding. No one is coming to the left. You look to the right, and you see another car in the distance approaching at a very fast pace. So, you hesitate, remembering the lady who pulled out a few weeks ago when she thought the oncoming car wasn’t going that fast. She misjudged the other driver’s speed, and it didn’t end well. Well, you begin to doubt yourself about your decisions on the road. When is the right time to pull out? Am I a safe driver? We all deal with doubt; it’s just that some decisions are more serious than others!

FACING FIRST DOUBTS

People will accept the fact that you may doubt your driving ability, but when it comes to questioning the truths of Christianity, that is a whole other story. This is especially a problem for young people who head off to college. For the first time, they face professors and other students who question them about Jesus and what He said and practiced. Then come the questions regarding why so many people suffer in this world if God is all-powerful and loving.

FACING DOUBT IS UNIVERSAL

Doubts do not end with college students trying to find their way. Questions continue with those of us who are older and more mature. Even the great Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, had his moment of doubt when he said: “The thought crossed my mind -which I abhorred but could not conquer- that there was no God, no Christ, no heaven, no hell, that all my prayers were but a farce, and that I might as well have whistled to the winds or spoken to the howling waves.” Spurgeon struggled with deep depression and illness most of his life.

CONFRONTING DOUBT HONESTLY

There are different kinds of doubt. Each must be confronted and dealt with in order for a believer to have a strong faith. A promise is linked with allowing one’s faith to grow. Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to the mountain, ‘ Go, throw yourself into the sea and it will be done’” (Matthew 21:21). Isn’t that a wonderful reason to honestly confront doubt and allow your faith to grow?

DIFFERENT ANGLES OF DOUBT

Strong faith is produced by strong devotion to the word of God. Doubt comes at us from many different angles. It can come from unanswered questions that linger in our minds. Sometimes it arrives from immoral behavior that people engage in. Times of suffering can bring doubt to the forefront where it lingers.

DOUBT AND THE HOSPITAL ROOM

I personally experienced doubts while spending an extended time in the hospital. My doubts bubbled to the surface, and I began to question the power of God. Why wasn’t He helping me? Why wasn’t He demonstrating His ability to remedy the problem? Was everything I believed about the character of God a lie? Doubt threw my soul into turmoil.

GOD LOVES HONESTY

What was the remedy? I began to pray and remind myself of the wonderful Truth I studied and preached for most of my life. The Holy Spirit reminded me Who God is and that He is Sovereign, regardless of the circumstances and the conflicting diagnoses from the doctors. My faith was weak and I prayed, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). God loves honesty.

HELP FOR DOUBT

What do you do with doubt? As complicated as the answer to that question is, let me just say……Stay in the Word! Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes. The more you fill your life with biblical truths, the weaker the strongholds of doubt will grow. Be honest with God and talk to Him directly about your doubt. He is faithful and will answer.

In the meantime, look both ways before pulling out in traffic!

RESHAPED BY THE WAVES

At my sister’s cottage on Buzzards Bay in Cape Cod, her family is obsessed with finding sea glass. Their eyes are trained to spot the finest treasures along the coastline: colorful, smooth, and beautifully polished by years of tumbling in the waves. Meanwhile, my inexperienced eye finds something entirely different: a piece of glass that is newly broken, jagged, and a far cry from what anyone would call “sea glass.”

TRANSFORMATION OF THE BROKEN

Inside their cottage are several jars filled with sea glass. They welcome every piece, regardless of its shape, color, size, or texture. The wonder is that these ordinary pieces of glass were once discarded, broken, and separated. Yet over time, the waves have transformed them to varying degrees.

DISTINGUISHED BY CRACKS

Crackle glass is one of their favorite treasures. This sea glass develops internal cracks from exposure to significant changes in temperature and pressure. Its intricate network of cracks gives each piece a distinctive appearance. Years of tumbling in the water gradually frost and soften its surface.

A NEW LIFE I NEVER IMAGINED

As I sift through these jars, searching for my favorite pieces, I begin to see a reflection of my own life journey. Like sea glass, the loss of my child shattered the life I knew, and waves of grief and sorrow have tossed and tumbled me. The life I once knew was gone, and I find myself facing a new life I never imagined.

RUTH’S SHATTERED LIFE

Do you think that Ruth in the Bible felt the same way?When Ruth lost her husband, grief shattered the life she had known and changed the future she had imagined. When her mother-in-law, Naomi, decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth faced a choice: return to what was familiar or step into an uncertain future alongside Naomi. Ruth chose the unknown. When Naomi urged her to return to her homeland, Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

BEAUTY OVER ASHES

Ruth couldn’t see how God would piece her life back together. She simply trusted Him enough to take the next step. Isaiah 61:3 speaks beautifully to this kind of transformation: “And provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Ruth’s unexpected journey eventually brought new life, a new family, and a place in the lineage of King David. What began in grief became part of a beautiful story she could never have imagined.

CRACKS DO NOT DEFINE WHO I AM

The menagerie of sea glass in those jars reminds me that I am still me. I have endured brokenness, and God is reshaping me through the waves. Just like the crackle glass, the cracks remain, reminders of what I have endured, but not defining who I am.

RESHAPED, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

How about you? Is your sea glass jagged, crackled, or polished? Wherever you are in the process, remember: reshaping can be painful, but it does not mean God has forgotten you. In time, what begins as an ordinary broken piece of glass can become a treasured piece of sea glass—shaped by the waves, softened by the journey, and transformed into something beautiful. Will you offer your broken glass to Him and allow him to reshape your life?

For further reading click: The Story of Ruth in the Bible – Bible Stories | Bible Study Tools

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