Have you purchased a vehicle lately? Niki and I just did a couple of months ago. Ours previous vehicles had about 100,000 miles and we are not mechanically inclined at all! When things start going out we are not able to fix them ourselves nor do we have the time to be taking them to shops for repair. We have found that there are a lot of options for searching, like Auto-Trader. You can put in your exact specifications, model, year, color, price and miles from your home. We can check many being sold from dealers and individuals. We can know if its being sold right at loan value, by checking NADA or Kelly Blue books on line. We can take it for a test drive. We can discover if it was kept in great condition. We can go to a cool website called carfax.com where we can entered in the VIN# of the vehicle and it will tell me the history on the car, whether it’s been flooded, wrecked or stripped before. We can call Lemon Busters out to do a 100-point check and ensure all the components are working effectively. We can research it. We can know it’s a good deal, feel like a good deal, in our price range, but we all know how cars can be. It could break down the day after the purchase or 5 miles after the warranty was up on it. I could have a lot of questions answered, but not all the questions would be answered. Only time will answer some of the questions we had. At some point I have to trust or have faith in the decision I need to make based on the evidence I have.
Life has uncertainties. If you are looking for a new job, apply, get an interview and then are offered the position, it can happen quickly. Sure you may do some research, ask questions, but eventually, you have to be willing to take the risk on the job, the supervisor, the company and the co-workers. You accept a new job offer by a person you have only met a couple full of times (at best) and you don’t know their life story. Only time will tell if the decision was right.
In both these instances a decision must be made at some point. If not, the car will be sold and or someone else will take the job. To decide not to decide is still a decision.
With becoming a follower of Christ it’s no different. You don’t have to know everything to trust something. I don’t know everything about my TV, its components, how it all works but I depend on it anyway. Doubts are a part of life. Some of you are holding out, because you want all the answers before going in. I commend you for that. A blind faith commitment to Christ is a shaky one at best. But, like everything else in life…there’s risk involved. You might feel like a sucker, you might be afraid to commit, but at some point you are going to have to decide, despite not having all the answers. Now if you are still researching, then keep researching, but know this,
YOU CAN HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST AND STILL HAVE DOUBTS OR UNCERTAINITIES.
Here’s some surprising things you may not know about doubt. Doubt is normal. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is part of what grows our faith if we address it. Doubt is the beginning of real faith.
There is so much misunderstanding about faith and doubt. Many people feel unnecessary fear or guilt about their sincere doubts. Doubt is not addressed enough in church. Everyone just assumes everyone’s faith is rock solid and it may not be. It’s time we talked about doubt. In the next post I’ll discuss faith and doubt in more detail and go over four common misunderstandings. To get you thinking about doubt & faith answer the following statements below with True or False.
- Faith is the Absence of Doubt. True or False?
- Doubt is Unforgivable. True or False?
- Doubt is Unhealthy. True or False?
- Faith and Feelings are the Same. True or False?
In the next post, I’ll give the answers with an explanation of each and several scriptural references. The answers may surprise you. Until next time,
Darrell
Upwards Church 