Devil’s Dart: Doubt

Whenever we start a new blog series, I try to spend some time in prayer listening to what topic/verse/character God wants me to write about - for your benefit, mine, or both! When I was presented with the Devil’s Darts topic for this round of blogs, I initially felt a push towards “skepticism” because it’s something I struggle with. So I agreed to write a post on skepticism “with maybe a sprinkling of doubt.” Then as I started planning the blog, I realized how backwards that thinking was. Yes, we can be attacked with skepticism when presented with something. But doubt is actually the mother of all darts Satan uses. The first two blog posts in this series have already mentioned it. It was literally Satan’s first move to tempt Eve in the Garden. So welcome to my blog post on doubt, with maybe a sprinkling of skepticism.

Two of the definitions Merriam-Webster gives for doubt are “to be uncertain about” and “to lack confidence in.” As pointed out in the last blog on Indecision, the first we know of Satan is him asking Eve, “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1) Boom. Immediate introduction of doubt (uncertainty and decreased confidence) into Eve’s mind. It’s no different for us. The reason we struggle with most of the sins that we do is because we doubt God: things like who He says He is, His promises to us, or His attitudes towards us. We worry because we doubt His provision (Matthew 6:25-34). We strive because we doubt that He will exalt us in the proper time (Luke 18:14). We craft idols because we doubt He is enough to fill us (Exodus 32). If Satan can whisper to us, “Did God really say…?” we will follow the spiral downward all on our own. 

Now, combating doubt is a seemingly everlasting battle. Partly because as we try to work through our sin, “when you peel back all the layers, at the very core, is mistrust” (Indecision blog). The other part is because if we were able to rid ourselves of doubt, we’d ultimately rid ourselves of sin and that’s not possible on this side of eternity. I want to be able to provide you with some tried-and-true armor that I’ve had success with in my battles with doubt. But Sister, I’m still working on it.

James 1:5-8 has always been a passage I have struggled with. Largely because people throw it around like a Biblical cure-all that makes everything crystal clear but it hasn’t been a magical elixir for me. James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” So people whip that promise out, clap the dust off their hands, and head on because they’ve given you everything you could possibly need. Unfortunately, it's been the rare exception that I’ve prayed that prayer for wisdom and been confident God answered it. So am I verse 6, that “when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”? I hope not. But I’ve spent many years trying to reconcile these verses with my experience and continue to struggle. 

The best armor I know to bolster our confidence and defeat our doubt is what’s listed right there in Ephesians 6 - the Word of God and prayer - as well as open community. It’s also worth mentioning that what Satan asked if God said (“You must not eat from any tree in the garden”) was actually not what God had said (“You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden”). Satan subtly twisted it. Through studying the Word to know deep down inside ourselves who God is and who He says we are, communing with Him in prayer, and opening up about our struggles and shortcomings with those we can trust, we can be certain of and have confidence in what is true, thereby defeating our doubt.