Is it okay to doubt?

Do you ever think your faith is not strong enough? Do you think Christians all believe exactly the same thing, understand God completely, know Jesus entirely, and have read the Bible cover to cover? Each of us has our doubts and fears, our hopes and aspirations. We have different expressions of faith and different ways to worship. It takes a lot of courage to admit to others in Church that we don’t know all the answers and more than that, that we sometimes doubt. However, doubt is an important part of faith. The majority of Christians base their hope on faith, and their faith on trust in Jesus. Faith and doubt are not enemies, but siblings. Not two sides of the same coin, but stations on the journey. Faith and doubt are places in the same pilgrimage.

…Elizabeth Foden writes

Am I Doubting Thomas?

Who is the God we worship, creator of heaven and earth?
Inventor of all creatures, midwife for all birth
Omnipotent, invisible and watching from on high
Did he really send his only son to be crucified, left to die?

The life story so chronicled of Jesus’ time on earth
Begins with the Nativity, the miracle of his birth
The legends that surround him of miracles and mystery
The legacy of his teachings all wrapped up in our history

Did he stand by the Sea of Galilee and preach by the tide less shore?
Did he share five loaves and two fishes to five thousand people or more?
And on his way to Capernaum, Can Matthew and Mark be right –
Did Jesus walk across the water in the fourth watch of the night?

Did Jesus heal the disease of lepers; did he help the blind to see?
Did Jesus tell all his disciples “Suffer the little children to come unto me”?
And in the Jars of Cana, according to the book of John
Did he turn water into wine on a wedding day years gone?

How truthful is the Bible on which in a court of law we swear?
Are its pages filled with fables, tales of people never there?
And how about wise Noah – was his wife really called Nelly?
Or was that a childhood programme I used to watch on telly?

And like the tower of Babel where language became confused
My thoughts became more jumbled the more I sat and mused
And so I ended my pondering because although God has much clout
As Christians in Him we should believe but like Thomas maybe I doubt?

Elizabeth Foden