Here's what happened. At the church we were attending a young couple came to the Lord. They were ready for a change in their lives and so they realized that only Christ could make a difference and they committed themselves to Him.

They were extremely poor and didn't even have an automobile to drive. A job opened up for him but he needed transportation to get there. Deb and I had two cars. They weren't new but they were dependable. We both worked at the same factory on the same shift and so we rode together. Very seldom did we use my Chevelle. God began speaking to my heart, "Jerry, you hardly ever drive that car anymore; only when it is convenient. Do you really need that car?"

"But God, that was a desire of my heart and You gave it to me. I wouldn't want to disrespect Your gift."

"It is your car and I gave it to you because I love you. But do you really need it?"

The battle raged in my mind as I worked. As badly as I didn't want to admit it God was speaking to my heart that we should give my Chevelle MY CHEVELLE to this couple. I'm here to tell you that it was not an easy decision. I took a break and walked over to where Deb was working and said, "Honey, I think God is telling me something but it's big. I'm not going to tell you what it is because if it really is the Lord then He will tell you too." There, it was out of my hands. It would take a miracle for her to know what was going on in my heart. I fully expected her to ponder over it a couple of days. If she did, maybe God would take it out of my heart. But before I turned to walk away she said, "The Lord is telling you to give your car to that couple isn't He?" What? Just like that? But she was right.

We gave it to them. We had to be obedient to the Lord. We met with them, signed the title over, and handed them the keys.

Before anyone says, "Wow! That was really a sacrifice to God," let me remind you that I didn't want to do it, so don't give us any credit; especially me!

In Matthew 19 a young man described as a "rich, young ruler" confronted Jesus. "Master, what do I need to do to be saved?" Jesus began quoting the Ten Commandments and the young man's face lit up. He had abided by those commandments his whole life. "Lord, I have kept the commandments from my youth up!" He thought that he must already be saved.

But then Jesus took that deep look that went beyond the man's face and magnified what was to be found in his heart. Jesus said, "One thing you lack; go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow Me." We are told that the young man turned and went away sorrowfully. He couldn't give up his possessions.

Now-a-days many in the Christian world have interpreted that to mean that if you are rich or have great possessions that you can't be a Christian. But I want to point out that the same pride of being rich is no different than the pride of being poor. You see, it wasn't the riches that hindered the young man, but the pride of being rich and keeping all the commandments. This pride was harbored in his heart. The pride of being poor is no different than the pride of being rich. In either case the command is the same, "Sell all you have, give it to the poor and follow Me."

“There is no way the Bible can be accurate!” Do you really expect me to believe that Jesus came back to life after he died? Give me a break!”

Comments such as these can cause one to doubt his faith. Doubt can lead someone to think he has become an unbeliever because he has lost his faith. There is nothing wrong with “honest” doubt. There are some things that doubt is not.

1) Doubt is not skepticism. While there is nothing wrong with honest doubt, there is much wrong with “dishonest doubt,” which is nothing more than skepticism. Skepticism is simply the willful decision to doubt everything deliberately, virtually rejecting what is highly probable.

2) Doubt is not unbelief. Unbelief is the decision not to have faith, which is a far cry from what doubt is. Doubt may amount to nothing more than difficulty in understanding something. There is no reason to feel guilty about honest doubt. Faith and doubt are not mutually exclusive. However, faith and unbelief are mutually exclusive.

Everyone has some sort of faith. Even a die-hard atheist has faith that there is no God. He may not think of it as faith, but the fact that no one has “proved” the non-existence of God means that he accepts his belief in no God by faith.
The Atheist would challenge our faith by saying ours is not a reasonable faith because there is nothing to substantiate it. We will look at evidence that demonstrates that not only is our faith reasonable, it is the most likely probability.

I do want to make a point before continuing. People rarely come to faith with resolved doubts. Francis Bacon said, “If you start with total certainty, you will end up with doubt, but if you start with doubt, you will end up with certainty.” Faith is not going to be faith solely because of the evidence we will be looking at. Notice the following passage:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1).”

Our faith is not based on the ability to prove or disprove. If we could prove 100% that our belief is true, then our faith would no longer be faith. So when we engage in a defense of our faith, we are showing “evidence” that our faith is “reasonable.” However, the bottom line is that we accept our Lord by faith.

Our faith comes from hearing, not necessarily from proving (Rom 10:17). While proving can remove obstacles to faith and strengthen it, faith is ultimately a decision. The Greek word for faith carries the idea of trust and obedience. James discusses this in James 2:19. Real faith is not merely mental assent, or even acceptance of some facts. It is an active trust in our Lord.

Next, we will look at how to handle doubt, and then look at evidence for the reasonableness of our faith.

DEALING WITH DOUBT

“I’m not sure that I’m really a Christian.” “I don’t think God is close to me.” “How could God love someone like me?” “Does God really care?”

Doubts similar to these have probably surface in your life from time to time. Praise God! If you are still here and worshipping God, then Satan has not snatched you away!

Wrestling with doubt will not lead you away from God, but giving in or ignoring it will. Remember that our faith is strengthened by testing, but is not the result of it. Faith is the "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen, (Heb 11:1)," not the conviction of things proven. Otherwise, faith would no longer be faith. “We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).” Yet, there will still be doubts to struggle with. So here are some suggestions for dealing with doubt:

1. Rely on the promises of God and not on your own feelings. God told Joshua to “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Josh 1:9).” “Cease striving and know that I am God (Psa 46:10).” When you experience doubts, remember that God has promised forgiveness of sins (1 Jno 1:9), to stand by us in our life (Jno 10:28; Mt 28:20), and an inheritance (1 Jno 2:25). As a matter in fact, God has given us a pledge, or “collateral” for it (Eph 1:13-14) and even put himself under oath (Heb 6:17)!

Another word about emotions. You may have felt very close to God when you became a Christian, but may not feel God is not close any more. Psalms 42 deals with the same problem. Notice how the Psalmist acknowledges God is still there even though he doesn’t feel like it. So do not trust in your emotions, they have a tendency to be very fickle. Trust in the promises of God (Heb 11:1 – 12:2)!

2. Realize that popular reaction has no bearing on right or wrong. Most who reject Christianity have not thought about it deeply or investigated it. Many people base their rejection on misunderstanding. Their rejection does not nullify the truth of the Gospel. Truth is truth whether people accept it or not. It is good to remember the Parable of the Soils in Mark 4. The seed did not always grow, but the problem was the soil, not the seed. Likewise, if God’s truth is not popular today, it is not because truth has ceased to be truth, but merely that people are not accepting it.

3. Don’t be preoccupied with your doubts. Preoccupation with doubt places your focus on yourself rather than God. It is like an attention-seeking child, demanding more and more attention as it grows. If you feed your doubt, it can become skepticism and unbelief. So don’t get preoccupied with it.

My late sister, Cozette, was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin's disease at the age of 23. She was told she had three months to live, but God had other plans for her.

Cozette became the mother to three children all while having cancer. She also held craft shows and even worked at a fabric store for a while. Physicians told Cozette that she should abort her last child. Cozette refused to do this, she had faith in God that he would bring her and her baby through it all. God honored her faith and Cozette had a girl. Cozette lived eleven years past the birth of her third child. Cozette had faith to believe that God would work things out for her.