Doubt as Disbelief

The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)

FAITH here is understood, not as a profession of something you do not believe, but as belief, trust, reliance upon something. You believe in A, or that P, if and to the degree that you are ready to act with reliance upon A or as if P were the case. We always "live up to" (or "down to": really, right at) our beliefs. (The Faith of Unbelief, Dallas Willard)

When I do things while doubting them, I think I sin. I am thinking of doubt not as mere uncertainty, but mixed with skepticism. To doubt something is not merely to say, "I don't know," but to say, "I suspect it's not so." I must work to relieve my doubts before I go about my practice, otherwise I find my efforts to be hindered and biased. Doubt indicates some level of distrust. It indicates that my will is not settled, but divided.

James pictures doubt like a wave in a storm. It is blown here and there. There is a lack of control. The person in doubt “wavers.” Living in doubt is like living on a boat with no sails or oars. It is a life not only without direction, but without the means of steering.

Another picture is that of a person with two minds. He (they?) possesses two sets of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and goes back and forth between them. The stumbling between the two minds makes him unstable, staggering and unable to be steady in anything in his life. A poignant picture of this is split personalities and neuroses.

Paul indicates that a person who doubts proceeds with something other than faith, trust, and confidence. We must live by trust if we are to live at all. The consequence is of not living by this trust is to steer completely out of God’s desire for us and away from God himself. I cannot walk with God and distrust him as well.

So doubt is characterized with wavering, instability, and missing out on God. Trusting God (not just trusting something about him) brings certainty, stability, and relationship with him. When my relationship with God is well, doubt does not remain in my mind.

Using Dallas Willard’s description of faith, I find that doubt is not being ready to act with reliance on or trust in someone or something. Doubt is hesitation that comes from divided loyalty. “No one can serve two masters,” Jesus says (Matthew 6:24). Trying to do so brings doubt.

Like anger, doubt is part of the human condition. Nothing is wrong with either in themselves. But when a person harbors anger, it becomes rage or contempt and becomes sin. Similarly, when I hold on to doubts without addressing them, they bring the life that James writes about, one that is wavering and unstable and unable to receive anything from God.

God does not intend for me to live in doubt; he wants me to live in trust and confidence. It is not that God doesn’t want me to ask questions. I am told to ask. In doubt, however, the questions become accusations and God becomes silent for the most part. It is not so much that he won’t answer, but that I can’t hear him.

As my trust and confidence in God grows, I encounter doubts. They come as assumptions that have to be torn down and thoughts and feelings that have to be replaced (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). I find they cannot be safely ignored, but some battles go on for quite a while.

Lord, I see how doubt can identify areas of distrust in my life. I do not want to let them remain, poisoning my life in you and with you. Conquer these places that stand against you. You are my help and shield. Amen.