Consider Matthew 14:31: Peter cried out for help when he began to sink as he tried to walk on water toward Jesus in the stormy seas. When Jesus rescued Peter, He said “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Chances are there comes a point in our lives when we doubt our faith and trust in God. The fact is no matter how prayerful and pious we are in life, we are going to face storms. Like Peter, although we try our best to follow the Lord’s way, those storms can be overwhelming. Isn’t that reason enough to doubt?
Life’s Storms
Some of those storms are caused by circumstances beyond our control and others are of our own doing. However, faith and trust in God help us to navigate through those storms so that we do not get lost in this increasingly secular world or drown in temptation and sin. Faith and trust in God give us an inner peace that we cannot find on our own.
The key is to hold onto that inner peace even when our anxieties, doubts, confusion, and sorrows try to pull us down. That inner peace is God’s love for each of us. Let us ask ourselves: Is God’s love more important than our possessions, our career status, and our social standing? If we should lose everything and still have God’s love in our hearts, how would we feel? Would we still feel safe and secure in the knowledge that God will not abandon us?
Christ reflected our fears and anxieties when He said from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [Matthew 27:46]. Jesus also showed us from the cross that even in His darkest hour, He still held onto His faith and trust when He said: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” [Luke 23:46]. That faith and trust also shines through Mary our Blessed Mother who helps us to see beyond our storms. Imagine the pain—and inspiration—that Mary must have felt sharing in her Son’s passion and crucifixion. How else could she have endured the loss of her Son and still open her heart to be mother to us all?
Faith and Trust
Having faith and trust in God does not mean our pain and troubles will magically disappear. Instead, when we put our lives in God’s hands—embraced with His love—we will be able to recover from the turbulence rather than succumb to it.
Like Peter, Christ will rescue us when we call out to Our Lord for help. Like Christ, who died for our sins and rose again in glory, we too can triumph over our circumstances when we follow Our Lord’s way in life. And like Mary, who was assumed into heaven body and soul, we too can live a holy life on earth with full faith and trust in God and die a holy death for eternal life in heaven. For all that God gives to us, may we be truly thankful.
4 thoughts on “Why Do You Doubt?”
There are two kinds of doubt, both negative and positive doubt. Negative doubt is all about fear and wanting to stay ignorant of some simple truths, that God created you, loves you and wants you to be with Him eternally. It is a doubt that leads to less faith, hope and love. Positive doubt is based in curiosity as to whether something is true or not true. This is doubt that leads to seeking the truth, a doubt that leads to greater faith hope and love.
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I am a 70-yr.old woman who is ill, and literally, ‘housebound’. I ‘know’ (in my mind) that I should be praying the Rosary; but, I CAN’T even ‘force’ myself to pray more than 3 ‘Hail Mary’s’! You see, have ‘mother issues’ that I STILL have not ‘resolved’ … and I actually left the Church in my early adulthood. I only returned to The Church 18 years ago.
Oh, I LOVED my mother; but I couldn’t TRUST her. She was ‘hypercritical’ of me for most of my life; and constantly accused me of things I never did, starting at an early age. She also depended on me to do some of the things she could NOT do — such as, doing the ‘family’ groceries, starting at age 7 — no matter what the weather. I was even expected to ‘take care’ of my 10 month old baby sister when I was only 5 years old; and, according to her, I never did anything ‘right’. I guess, I expect that ‘Mother Mary’ would treat me the same way; that no matter how hard I prayed for her intercession, I would be ignored or ‘judged’ to be ‘undeserving’ of her attention and care. I need to be healed of this ‘fear’; but I don’t know HOW to get beyond this depth of ‘mistrust’. Would YOU intercede with Mary for me?
Dear Sue, I’m glad that you’ve returned to the church and I pray that your journey will continue to grow in God’s Grace. The sins of your mother have caused you to carry her burden of mistrust throughout your life and it is time to lay that burden at the feet of Jesus Christ. He will give you rest. He also asks that you accept His Holy Mother as your own as He said to the Virgin Mary at the foot of His cross, ” Woman, behold your son.”, and to John, He said, “Behold, your mother.” The parents we are born to on this earth have faults and are sinners, like the rest of us. To hold onto their words and actions, letting them define who you are, is to stay stuck and resist your own spiritual growth. God is our True and Eternal Father and the Holy Virgin Mary is our Mother who is without sin. She understands your pain and will help soften your heart as you pray to her. Please give her a chance to open your heart to her most precious Son, Jesus Christ. She understands sacrifice. She longs to speak to you. Please keep trying. I will pray to Mother Mary for you and hope that you will begin your own personal dialogue with her. God bless you.