Daily Encouragement

Monday, January 31, 2022

Stone wall in farmhouse in Mount Joy, PA (photo by Nick Nichols)

Stone wall in a Mount Joy, PA farmhouse
(Photo by our friend Nick Nichols)

"Preaching To My Doubt"

Message summary: Today, speak to your fears and preach to your doubts the immutable message of God's steadfast love and care for you.

Listen to this message on your audio player.

"And He said to them, 'Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your hearts?'" (Luke 24:38).

The devil had a closing down sale and was selling all his tools and devices of destruction. Someone asked him how much he wanted for the wedge of doubt. He said, "It's not for sale. I can get back into business with that anytime."

Who among us has not doubted? As we exercise discernment there are some situations that should make us doubt but there are others, especially those that have to do with Scripture, that should not. It's a common emotion that each of us deals with and will do so to some degree the rest of our lives. Sowing doubts is in the arsenal of Satan's flaming arrows that we need the shield of faith to extinguish. "Take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16).

In our daily text Jesus is speaking to all His disciples following His resurrection, not just doubting Thomas. He said to them, 'Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your hearts?'" That question is a timeless one that in our own hearts we also must consider. Who among us has not battled fear or struggled with doubts? We've been frightened and doubts have risen in our hearts.

Yesterday in our church service we listened to a song titled "Faithful Now". It has a line that especially caught our attention:

I will speak to my fear
Oh, I will preach to my doubt

Let us speak to our fears by recalling the many times in God's Word when He declares "fear not".

Let us preach to our doubts, by reminding ourselves of the character and faithfulness of God.

God’s care for us is amply demonstrated in His care of creation. Yet we are so prone to worry and fret. Some of us are dealing with challenging situations and the poisonous darts of doubt, dismay, and discouragement are being hurled our way. If this is you, are you holding up the shield of faith to extinguish Satan's flaming arrow?

David C. McCasland wrote “The way to forget our worries is to concentrate on the goodness and loving care of God, not on the problems that plague us. Then we can say with the Psalmist, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19).

A hymn we rarely hear titled "How Sure The Scriptures Are" has these words:

Let those who hear His voice confronting them today,
Reject the tempting choice of doubting or delay.
For God speaks still, His word is clear.
So let us hear, and do His will.

Today, speak to your fears and preach to your doubts the immutable message of God's steadfast love and care for you.

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, as we are tossed about in the tempest sea of life, we will stay afloat as we hold onto the truths secured through Your promises in the Scriptures. When doubts and fears begin to consume our thoughts help us to cling tightly to the teachings of Scripture that dispel the lies of Satan. Doubts lead to fear but trust leads to faith which will reinforce wonderful passages from Scripture such as "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end...." We speak courage to our fears and preach trust to our doubts so that we are victorious through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"Faithful Now" Video From our service yesterday at Calvary Church (includes our pastor's prayer)

"My Faith has Found a Resting Place" Video Daniel and Emma Lynn Glick Joining me this morning in preparing our message is Eli James. He suggested this local couple from here in Lancaster County when I was searching for this hymn. What a blessing to see their commitment to Christ. We dedicate this message to Jamie's Grandpa Moses who is experiencing heart problems which is bringing a lot of physical suffering. This song has a line so pertinent to today's message, "Enough for me that Jesus saves, this ends my fear and doubt."

"How Sure the Scriptures Are!" Video Evangel Baptist Church Worship Team

"Standing on the Promises of God" Video Selah

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God

"Thank God I Am Free" Video Detty Sisters In Friday's message we shared a story about the impact Brooksyne had on a high school friend and referred to this song. A thoughtful reader found this version and shared it with us. It will make you smile and if you haven't heard this song before you will be singing it in your head after the video is turned off.

Here is an interesting story about a man who, due to great trial, succumbed to his doubts but experienced a wonderful "rest of the story".

GOD'S REMARKABLE WAYS

David and Svea Flood, a young Swedish missionary couple, were on fire for God when they arrived in Africa in 1921. They were determined that they would do pioneer work among unreached people, but the Africans were hostile and the climate was deadly. Soon after the birth of their second child, Svea died. The pain was too much for David. Doubts consumed him. Why had God let them down when they had sacrificed everything for Him? Had God forgotten them? Were they on a fool's errand? For all their work they had only one convert, and he was a child.

David was in this mindset when he left Africa with his young son, leaving behind his baby girl who was too weak to travel. A missionary couple took her in and when they subsequently died, she was passed on to another missionary couple, who later raised her in America. In the meantime, David, who was living in Sweden, turned his back on the church and his thoughts were far from the spiritual realm. After his second marriage dissolved, he began living with a mistress. He thought little about the daughter he had not seen since infancy.

His daughter Aggie, however, thought about him often. She had learned about the work he and her mother had begun in Africa, and she wanted to talk about it with him. After high school and further study at North Central Bible College, she married Dewey Hurst and together they served in various ministries for the Lord. But she longed to visit her father and her homeland of Sweden.

Finally, she was able to make the trip to Stockholm where she found her seventy-three-year-old bedridden father in a run-down apartment with liquor bottles lining the window sills. She took him in her arms and told him she loved him and that God had taken care of her through the years.

Indeed, God had done far more than that. There in his grimy bed with tobacco juice running down his unshaven face, her father heard for the first time that the little boy who had been converted through his and Svea's ministry had won his village of 600 people to Christ, and had gone on to be a great leader in the church. It was an emotional moment for him, and through his daughter's urging, he recommitted his life to God. There was joy in that tiny apartment that day, and neither of them could know that David had only six more months to live.

(From "Stories of Faith" by Ruth A. Tucker)

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