Doubt: The Foundation of Faith

In the spring of 2023, we had an experienced baseball team returning from the previous season. In our first game of the season, we faced a quality opposing pitcher and got shut out. In our second game of the season, we lost in an extra-innings walk-off affair. As we entered our third game of the season, doubt crept into my mind about how good we could be. This doubt became great as the third game progressed, entering the bottom of the 7th, losing 1-0. Lo and behold, we scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th, winning in walk-off fashion. We then won 12 of the next 13 games. Our doubt becomes the foundation of faith.

Being raised in a Christian home, we would hear biblical stories of faith from a young age. We hear of Jesus healing the sick, the lame, the blind, and the poor. Many of these healings end with Jesus blessing those that have been healed with this phrase, “…your faith has made you well.”

Jesus healed the bleeding woman, and then in Matthew 9:22, Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

In Mark 10:52, Jesus says these words to Bartimaeus, “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

After healing the Samaritan leper, we read in Luke 17:19, “Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

All these reminders of people having faith can lead us to feeling that we should not have any doubts or that if we have doubts, there is something wrong with us. Our doubts are reminders that we are human. Our doubts provide the opportunity and the foundation for our faith.

Instead of focusing on our doubts, we are being challenged to lock eyes with Jesus. Our doubts bring our head down, and in order to lock eyes with Jesus, we must lift our head up. Look around and look up. It is then that we are reminded of what is written in Luke 7:22-23, “Then he told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’ And he added, ‘God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.’”

Each of us has a story of faith to tell. We have experiences where God shows up. It is up to us to keep our eyes up and know that God shows up. He shows up right on time to remind us that our doubts are the foundation of the faith that makes us well.

Lead well. Love better.