Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt

1
The
Problem of Subtle Doubts

The Relationship between Faith and Doubt.
There is a clear relationship in the New Testament between faith and doubt. This may seem obvious to many, but some do fail to see this important connection and fail to identify their own doubts. Because doubts are often very subtle, they are seldom identified initially as doubts. These subtle doubts are often built right into what we understand or misunderstand about God. It is a case of being too close to the trees to see the forest. If these subtle doubts remain unidentified and not dealt with, we will feel that healing ministry is inconsistent, unreliable and unpredictable. If we believe this, then be assured that our healing experiences would be exactly that… inconsistent, unreliable and unpredictable. Our healing experiences will certainly match our expectations. Our misunderstandings of healing will be validated by our malformed experience of healing as if what we believe is true. We may then embrace a doubting theology about healing that matches our less than New Testament experience. We may then become locked in a doubting cycle. Doubting theology creates failures in healing and in turn these failures reinforce the unidentified doubts. Because we have never seriously compared our experience and understanding with what Christ reveals in His experience of healing the sick and injured, we continue in this doubting cycle. If we don’t identify or deal with our doubts, we never get beyond a shadow of doubt in healing.

It has been our experience that the majority of people have enough faith to be healed if they deal properly with their doubts. Subtle doubts often overshadow their very real faith. In many cases, we have been able to get people healed who previously were unable to receive healing by helping them identify their doubts and dispose of them. Often, we simply asked the question
Why
do you think that you are not being healed? The answer revealed subtle doubts that they had not identified. Sometimes they answered that maybe it wasn’t God’s will to heal them or His timing or that maybe God had a special purpose in them remaining ill. When they dealt with their doubts according to what Christ revealed in the New Testament, they were often immediately healed. They had genuine faith in Christ but doubt was still prohibiting them from being healed.

Since Christ often taught on faith in the context of healing someone, this subject cannot be neglected if we are going to understand healing. The subject of doubt and its relationship to faith occurs in many New Testament passages revealing the supernatural power of God working in human lives. Some of these passages are not specifically addressing healing but reveal the relationship between faith and doubt. For example, in a passage where Peter has just walked supernaturally on water but began to sink as he saw the wind and the waves around him, Jesus says to Peter:

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him (Peter), and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31

It is apparent from this question from Christ to Peter that the reason that Peter was able to miraculously walk upon the water was because of his faith in Christ. It is also apparent that the reason that he began to sink was because he began to doubt. Clearly, Peter did not sink because it was God’s will for him to sink. Peter did not sink because it was God’s timing for him to sink. Peter did not sink because it was God’s mysterious purpose being worked out in his character. Peter walked on the water because he believed in Christ’s words to him to come. He sank because he doubted when he saw the wind and the waves. Peter didn’t sink because Christ had somehow changed His mind about him walking on water. God’s empowering of Peter to walk upon the water was dependent upon Peter’s faith in Christ and his resistance to doubting. Doubting overshadowed Peter’s faith and prevented the Father from doing what He was willing to do. Likewise, doubt often overshadows a healing or a miracle that the Father is perfectly willing to do.

In another situation, Christ teaches on receiving from God the Father and the relationship between faith and doubt. This passage is found in Matthew’s Gospel and concerns the result of Christ cursing a fig tree and it withering. Christ’s disciples ask Him about the tree…

"How did the fig tree wither at once?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it shall happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Matthew 21:20-22 (
Cf
: Mark 11:21-26)

Christ tells His disciples that they can accomplish the same sort of miraculous things if they have faith and do not doubt. Christ tells us again that doubt is the culprit for not receiving the things that God would normally do for believers. James tells us a similar truth that begins with the subject of receiving wisdom from God and ends with a general statement about all matters of receiving from God. This would include healing. James reveals much about the problem of doubt. James writes:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who
doubts is
like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not
that man expect
that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8

James reveals several important things. First of all, receiving wisdom or any other thing from God requires faith in His willingness to give it. Secondly, doubting will prevent receiving from the Lord. Thirdly, the doubting person is described as being double-minded and unstable. In other words, a key to receiving from God is identifying and resolving the doubts that are overshadowing our faith, destabilizing and making us double-minded.

Identifying and Resolving Doubts.
Today, many doubts are justified as reasonable and expressed in a theological way. These shadowy doubts have become Christian doctrine to many. They are commonly accepted but they are heresy. When someone believes one of these unbelieving doctrines is true, they are unable to consistently receive from Christ as Healer. Likewise, they are unable to minister to the sick and injured reliably. Therefore, it is important to identify these doubting doctrines and reject them if one is going to experience and minister healing consistently and reliably.

How do you determine if a particular belief is a doubting doctrine? You determine a doctrine’s truthfulness simply by comparison to the life, ministry, teaching, attitudes and activity of Jesus Christ. Christ perfectly reveals the will of the Father in every matter. If Jesus Christ doesn’t reveal it, the belief or doctrine is most probably untrue and heretical. If Christ’s activity and teaching contradict the doctrine, it is always untrue and heretical no matter how accepted it might be by the Church or authorities within the Church. This is an incredibly powerful way to evaluate the truth of healing doctrines and what should be done in a healing situation. The apostle John wrote of Christ’s unique capacity to reveal the Father:

No man has seen God at any time; the only unique Son, the only-begotten God, Who is in the bosom (that is, in the intimate presence) of the Father, He has declared Him – He has revealed Him; brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him, and He has made Him known. John 1:18 Amplified Version

Teachings about the will of the Father for healing, the timing for healing and whether the Father has a purpose for sickness are all validated or refuted by Christ’s actions, attitudes, commands, and teaching in situations where sick and injured people are being healed. There is no room for shadows of doubt when Christ’s ministry to the sick and injured is thoroughly examined. Christ reveals the Father’s will, purpose and timing perfectly in every way.

Doubts Overshadowing Faith for Healing.
In the next few chapters, a number of doubts will be identified that overshadow faith for healing. There are surely others but in our experience these are the most prominent ones that are sometimes justified and expressed by bad doctrine. The first four of these doubts are the most common and often are the foundation for many other doubts. The first four doubts are given their own chapters at the beginning of this book. We encourage the reader to study the chapters in the order that they are presented in this book so that the final chapters will be easier to understand. The final chapters will rely heavily upon the reader understanding earlier information presented in the book.

These are the first four doubts found in the next four chapters expressed as questions:

The Will of God Doubt
: Is it always God’s will to heal the sick and injured or is God’s will different for different people?

The Divine Purpose Doubt:
Is God using sickness and injury for a special purpose in the lives of believers?

The Specific Timing Doubt:
Does God have a specific time for healing and therefore does He allows sickness or injury to remain for a season?

The Lack of Faith Doubt:
Am I not being healed because of a lack of faith?

Our object will be to discuss these first four doubts and resolve them so that the reader will be able to know the truth of these matters with a strong conviction that leads to a simple faith in Christ as Healer. Often, when these doubts are resolved, healing becomes an easy matter for believers. The first four doubts will be found in the next four chapters, one at a time. The remaining doubts will be covered in the final four chapters.