What If?

Hebrews 10:35-36 "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised".

At the time the book of Hebrews was written, persecution was intense. Many Jewish believers had cast aside the ordinances of the law and had stepped out in faith to embrace the gospel. Imagine how scary that must have been. There must have been a lot of doubt…a lot of “What Ifs”...What if I’m wrong, what if Jesus isn’t the Messiah, what if I should be continuing to give blood sacrifice, what if I still need a priest to intercede for me, what if the old covenant wasn’t replaced by the new covenant? This doubt must have caused some to throw out their confidence in the new covenant. In our verses today, the Jewish believers were encouraged to hold on to their confidence. In the midst of this persecution, they could be confident that when they patiently endured in the will of God, they would enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 10:19).

Whether it’s the doubt in the promise of the new covenant or doubt in our purpose & calling, Satan loves to use this weapon against believers. Like a candlesnuffer smothers a flame, so does doubt extinguish our light that reflects the Radiant One. Matthew 5:16 says “Let your Light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven”. If our light is extinguished, we do not fulfill our purpose, which is to glorify our Father. He has a specific plan as to how each of us will individually fulfill our purpose and Satan will do what he can to prevent us from doing so.

Doubt hinders our ability to do the will of God in countless ways, but we’ll look at three ways here today:

Doubt prevents us from seeking a relationship with God which prevents us from seeking the will of God. This type of doubt includes “how could God want a relationship with a sinner like me” Yes, Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, but Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. He created a plan for redemption so that we could have a relationship with Him. And John 14:26 says “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”. He sent the Holy Spirit so that we could have a relationship with Him.

Doubt plants fear in our ability to carry out God’s will. These doubts include “What if I’m not good, righteous smart, pretty, talented, rich, (insert adjective here); enough to do what God has planned”. But Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. And Corinthians 3:5-6 says “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant…” So whenever those doubts arise, we must remind ourselves that we are God’s masterpiece and that He has made us competent. How can we fail with competencies that come from God?

Doubt causes us to question our ability to discern the voice of God. These doubts include I’m not holy enough, wise enough, close enough, etc…to hear or understand the voice of God. Fortunately, we have the Word of God and any doubts we have about the voice of God can be filtered through what we learn about the character of God through the Word of God. Philippians 2:13 says it is "God who is at work in you both to will an dto work for His good pleasure". God will make sure that He reveals His will to us. He will let us know if we are stepping outside of His will. If we get to know God, we will get to know his voice and his will for us.

Satan uses doubt as a weapon with me all the time. In fact in writing these blog posts, I often struggle with doubt. It creeps in and next thing you know my finger is on the backspace key and I’m starting over. After many breaks for prayer and refocusing, by the grace of God, I get some words down. “Doubt” is why it’s this late and I’m just now posting this. But, I firmly believe that is why God has me here - to learn to snuff out doubt instead of letting it snuff out His light inside of me…to build an amazing confidence so that I might fulfill my individual purpose that will let His light shine through me in amazing ways!

So my friends, I ask you…in what ways does Satan use doubt with you? Does doubt lead you to make bad decisions that hinder your ability to let your light shine? Does it hinder your relationship with God? Does it cause you to heed ungodly counsel? Does it cause you to hide behind your insecurities? Are you working to build your confidence in His abilities and His promises through prayer and Bible Study?

Todays blog was posted by Kelly Coxe - sorry so late! :)