Doubting

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
   How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
   and have sorrow in my heart all day long? 

 (Psalm 13: 1-2)

How long will this last? How long will we have to wait? How long will God seem to hide from me? How long until things improve? How long until it is right again? How long... how long... how long...?

In my last post I was suggesting that while ‘waiting’ is a very positive discipline, it can also have negative effects.

There is a verse in Proverbs; ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’ (Proverbs 13: 12).

Ah yes indeed!

But while that is true it is also true that hope deferred is not the same as hope denied.

True, but not always easy to hang onto.

When we are in situations of difficulty, suffering, longing, desperation, etc. waiting can be very difficult... and can lead to doubt. Will God ever answer my prayer? Does God really care? Is God there at all?

Doubt creeps in and seems to gnaw away at our faith.

However, the older I get and the longer I continue on this journey of faith the more I wonder if doubting is always to be feared, or avoided, or regarded as a ‘bad thing’.

My own experience is that periods of doubt have unsettled me, disturbed me, worried me... but have also led me to new perspectives on faith, new understandings of discipleship and new experiences in my relationship with God.

Doubting, it seems to me, is a necessary part of faith.