God Is Not Afraid of Our Doubt

Doubt isn’t a pleasant emotion to experience.

Doubt sits right in between belief and disbelief and never quite settles on one side. 

Sometimes, we doubt because we can’t imagine our circumstances being any different from what we know. But the reality is our doubt doesn’t faze God. He takes pleasure in meeting us in our doubt.

Today, I reflected on the story of Abraham and Sarah while in a season of doubt. In Genesis 15-1-6, God tells Abraham that he will give him an heir and that his descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky, and Abraham believes God. But later on, in Chapter 18, God reconfirms his promise to Abraham by sharing that he will have a son within the next year, and Sarah overhears and laughs—not audibly but silently to herself.

Sarah’s laugh reminds me so much of myself when my hope is deferred. How often do we silently laugh to ourselves when God confirms a long-awaited promise? How often do we elevate the logistics of our circumstances to God’s ability? I don’t blame Sarah for getting caught up in her circumstances. She probably heard other people in her community say that bearing a child in old age is dangerous and complicated. She probably thought back to all the other times she tried to have a child with Abraham but was unable to.

But like Sarah, our doubt and silent laughter result from feeling disappointment within hope. Proverbs 13:12 confirms this by saying, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is the tree of life.” Our hearts naturally grow weary when God’s promises seem delayed. And sometimes, if our hearts grow weary enough, we become hasty and take matters into our own hands (see Genesis 16).

However, Sarah’s doubt and hasty decisions didn’t intimidate God.

Nor did it nullify God’s desire to bless her with a son. In Genesis 18:13-14 NLT, God responds to Sarah’s doubt with a question about his character. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” I find this funny because God always challenges my doubt with a question of his nature over my human ability.

God allows our doubt so that we can go back to the roots of his character. The best antidote for a disappointed heart is to remind yourself of God’s character: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness (Exodus 34:6 NIV). Remembering God’s character when the enemy lies to us about his promises is important.

Later on, in Genesis 21:1, God keeps his word and gives Sarah exactly what he promised, a son. I’m learning that doubt is a natural part of our faith walk, but we should never allow it to trick us into believing that our circumstances are more powerful than God. This story of Sarah and Abraham reminds me to challenge my doubt in this season with the truth of God’s character. It also reminds me to release the shame that comes when I doubt God. God isn’t afraid of our doubt, but instead, he meets us there and invites us to challenge it with this question “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”.