I'm part of an early morning bible study that meets every Friday morning. Fortunately for me the study meets at my place of employment. While we study the scriptures, we often use books by Christian authors to prompt us to explore those areas of our faith that we might not have considered before. The book we've chosen this time is Faith & Doubt by John Ortberg. Faith defined as the belief and trust in and loyalty to God. Faith is also the firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Doubt is defined as to lack confidence in or to consider unlikely. If you had only one of these two words (faith or doubt) to describe what the passengers on flight 1549 felt toward the pilot "Chesley B. Sullenberger" as he attempted to land his aircraft in the Hudson river, which one would it be ? Doubt for most who knew nothing of Chesley's extensive flying background, while faith for a small group (crew members) who knew of his passion for flying and his character and training for pressure situations. You see there is a fine line that determines when faith or when doubt take over. Faith bringing with it comfort, hope and a reason to believe in the one who is in control and where they are taking us. Doubt not giving a basis to believe that everything will be OK, only leaving despair and fear . Remember that doubt can not exist in the presence of knowledge or faith. We can use the example of light and darkness. One can not exist in the presence of the other. Now think of your relationship with GOD. While we all experience doubt from time to time, doubt can be the vehicle that can inspire us to seek a reason to believe and this is when doubt turns to faith. Thank you Lord for both faith and doubt. Help me to have faith when everything around me says doubt.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Faith & Doubt
I'm part of an early morning bible study that meets every Friday morning. Fortunately for me the study meets at my place of employment. While we study the scriptures, we often use books by Christian authors to prompt us to explore those areas of our faith that we might not have considered before. The book we've chosen this time is Faith & Doubt by John Ortberg. Faith defined as the belief and trust in and loyalty to God. Faith is also the firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Doubt is defined as to lack confidence in or to consider unlikely. If you had only one of these two words (faith or doubt) to describe what the passengers on flight 1549 felt toward the pilot "Chesley B. Sullenberger" as he attempted to land his aircraft in the Hudson river, which one would it be ? Doubt for most who knew nothing of Chesley's extensive flying background, while faith for a small group (crew members) who knew of his passion for flying and his character and training for pressure situations. You see there is a fine line that determines when faith or when doubt take over. Faith bringing with it comfort, hope and a reason to believe in the one who is in control and where they are taking us. Doubt not giving a basis to believe that everything will be OK, only leaving despair and fear . Remember that doubt can not exist in the presence of knowledge or faith. We can use the example of light and darkness. One can not exist in the presence of the other. Now think of your relationship with GOD. While we all experience doubt from time to time, doubt can be the vehicle that can inspire us to seek a reason to believe and this is when doubt turns to faith. Thank you Lord for both faith and doubt. Help me to have faith when everything around me says doubt.
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1 comment:
love the thoughts. i can't wait to hear more about what you will experience and learn from that book. and i admit to chuckling when i thought of the potential signoff for your post. "from the desk of the sometimes ... doubting thomas"!
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