Have you ever had one of those times when you just want to stand there and scream, not out of anger but out of sheer frustration? Sometimes when you have doubts that layer one on top of the other things start looking a lot like a Sara Lee pastry.
That old quip, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” springs quickly to mind, but that isn’t really helpful is it?
How can I make lemonade out of doubts? I can sit in the sun and sip that lemonade and still feel troubled by the things around me, by the grumps I have with my circumstances.
So what do you do about doubt?
The opening line to the hymn looms out of the shadows:
“When my love to Christ grows weak,
When for deeper faith I seek,
Then in thought I go to thee,
Garden of Gethsemane.”
To think on this, I am reminded how small I am. How much tension, anxiety, even terror Our Lord must have felt while He prayed in the Garden. O, Father, take this cup from me, but only if it is Your will.
He walked ahead, firm in His resolve, the Love of His Father having put to rest His doubts.
Think of the Garden of Gethsemane.
He took the pain and the suffering and the hardship, He took on himself the Sin.
Remember in our hearts the declaration of Isaiah:
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed,
for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
It is OK to have doubts, to struggle with super low levels of confidence. But those doubts undermine your trust in God. Those doubts do not bring you life, in fact they work against life. They work against the Mercy and Grace as a sign of God’s love for us. A super abundant love.
When we look at Gethsemane, we have to look beyond it don’t we? We have to look at the Cross. And beyond that, the empty tomb. God’s plans for us are not founded in doubt, no, they are based in his Love.
Move forward with the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 in our hearts:
“For I know the plans I have for you,
Declares the Lord,
Plans for welfare and not for evil,
To give you a future and a hope.”
We should make that our default, O Father God, please help me to bring my cares and concerns to You as an integral part of my prayer life, and help me to praise you and worship you and give thanks for all that You are to me, so that I may thrive as You want me to thrive.
Amen.