Do you ever doubt yourself? When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you like what you see? Is there anything you would like to change? What would it take to make you satisfied with the person in the mirror?
How about on the inside? Do you ever doubt who you really are? Do you lack confidence in yourself? Do you feel you are just not good enough?
The seeds of doubt are all around us. We see the beautiful and the strong on TV and consciously and unconsciously, we compare ourselves to what we envision we should be. They rob us of our joy in life, if we let them into our head.
If you can remember playing organized sports, you may recall that the opposing team did not compliment you. Instead, they wanted to get into your head and convince you that you were not good enough to win. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a master at getting into an opponents head, e.g., at a Mr. Olympia contest he would say to a fellow competitor, “Lou. You look great! But your calves might need a little more work.” That was just enough to plant a little seed of doubt in Lou’s head which gave Arnold the advantage he needed to win. During a jury trial, a defense attorney is trying to plant the seeds of doubt. He or she knows that if the seed of doubt can be planted in just one of the jurors, the outcome will be successful.
So, how do we get the seeds of doubt out of our head? That is the question that a father was struggling with as seen in the 24th verse of the ninth chapter of Mark. The disciples could not heal a boy who was suffering from epilepsy and an evil spirit. The father pleaded with Jesus to heal his son. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” The father cried and said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” When Jesus healed the boy, His disciples asked Him why they couldn’t do it. Jesus told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
When we develop a close relationship with the Lord, by reading His Word daily and praying when the seeds of doubt try to overwhelm us, and focus entirely on Jesus rather than the problem, we can prevent the seeds of doubt from taking up root in our life. Jesus tells us this will work. No doubt about it.
