When In Doubt, Remember

Good morning Immanuel. The God who was faithful yesterday will be faithful again today and forever!

“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:17-19)

Photo by kevin turcios on Unsplash

“Surely… we cannot imagine any certainty that is not tinged with doubt, or any assurance that is not assailed by some anxiety.” – John Calvin.

Doubt and anxiety are so synonymous in many of our experiences that we have difficulty differentiating them. Anxiety is being apprehensive about the future. It is fear of the future. Therefore, if we have nagging doubts about eternity, it makes sense why we would also struggle with anxiety. The question of whether there is a God is the biggest question there is. Tied to this question is whether our lives have meaning and how we should respond to God if he does exist. Often when we are in a crisis of anxiety, it can feel like God isn’t helping. I often struggle with seasonal depression, and when I am in the middle of it, my inner imposter’s message of shame and dysfunction drowns out any sense of God. I can even feel like I am in a spiritual and emotional grave. In times like these, I must look back to the past faithfulness of God to ward off the fears of the future. I need to remember the Lord’s faithful love. Like the nation of Israel did in Joshua 4 or Moses did on Mount Sinai, we need to build altars of remembrance of the Lord’s faithfulness in walking us through past worries or doubts to get us through present fears and doubts. If the God we serve is who He says He is (and I believe he is), then just as he was faithful yesterday, he will be faithful again today and forever!