CHOOSING FAITH INSTEAD OF DOUBT

• Mark 4:35-40 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

A Christian's faith has to be based on God's Word. The disciples witnessed so many great miracles that we might say they should have had the strongest faith possible. And Jesus never gave them reason to doubt Him. So, if beforehand the Lord told them: “Let us cross over to the other side,” that should have been enough for them and know the storm would not be able to stop them. On the contrary, they should have fought against it, knowing in their hearts that if Jesus said they would cross over to the other side that nothing would be able to stop them.

But the storm caused them to doubt that they would make it. And in accepting the doubt, they they lost their faith and soon fear conquered their hearts, even to the point where they lost sight of their Lord's Word. That's why, Jesus had to calm the storm, in their place,. Then He pointed out why they failed: “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

For Jesus, the storm was no surprise. He had an important lesson for His disciples and He decided to take a nap, staying out of their way, so that they would have the chance to act by faith. What if Jesus hadn't been in the same boat with them at the time? What would they have done? Despair might be the best teacher there is in many cases. But to face trials and succeed, we need to prepare ahead of time. We have to strengthen our faith while we sail on calm waters, to be able to face the storms and calm them down, instead of panicking.

Faith is not going to growing when we are despairing. While the waves were filling the boat in and the wind was tossing them violently around, the disciples were not remembering or standing on all that the Lord had taught them. At least they remembered that He could save them enough that they rushed to wake him up. However scolding Him that He would let them perish. It seems incredible to tell to the Lord of Life that He did not care for their lives. And, as a matter of fact, I doubt that their voices were calm and or very nice when they said it.

Now, I wonder how much we really believe what God's Word says and how determined we are also to fight against doubt? How often when doubt comes do we really keep on believing?

To be able to own and keep a firm faith in what the Bible says, doubt can have no place in our lives. Many times, our flesh doesn't even need the enemy's help to cause us to lose what we would receive by faith, as our own human natures do a pretty good job even by itself.

We need to recognize doubtful thoughts and block them before they give birth to more. We have to work build our faith, "brick by brick" with every trial and every test we face in our daily lives – no one else can do it for us. It is the personal challenge we all face that will determine what we build, walls of faith or walls of doubt. Or that will determine who wins: doubt or faith.

Doubt is overcome by believing in our hearts and proclaiming the truth of the Scriptures, in all our challenges and trials and as often as it is needed, so that we can stand firm and stay strong in our faith, receiving what God's Word says we will in all the circumstances and challenges of life. We must choose and build a lifestyle of faith or without even trying, we will live a lifestyle of doubt.

​C. Pușcaș