Baptism Weekend Devotional Day 3
DAY 3 – Wednesday
Daily devotional
Read
Mark 16:11-14
Ask
Do you struggle with disbelief?
Reflect
Mary goes to tell the other disciples what she has seen, and they don’t believe her—even though they might have recalled Jesus telling them three different times that he would die, and on the third day, rise up.
Many of us have witnessed miracles by God…we have heard countless stories of restoration and healings…but we still lack belief. Some of us are skeptics by temperament. The truth is, every Christian will deal with doubt and disbelief. “Faith needs to wrestle at times,” I like to say. Christians who struggle with periods of doubt and disbelief are often afraid to share their thoughts with others. Though they want and need to process their thoughts and theology, their doubt quickly compounds into guilt, keeping them silent.
If you are one of those people and you are currently in a place of doubt, would you consider asking yourself some questions?
Are you letting God speak to you, or are you constantly questioning him? At times I can find myself chattering away at God and not allowing him to speak into my life. I have to practice quietly listening to him and reading his word to know how he speaks.
Are your desires clouding your judgment? This is a hard one, because if you’re human, you have had moments like this. As we read the passage in Mark, we note that the disciples were mourning and weeping. So why did they refuse to believe? Maybe they were thinking, “This is too good to be true!” Or “Pinch me, I’m dreaming!” We don’t know, we weren’t there—but grief can be powerful.
Have you asked God to help you believe him, to help your unbelief? He will! Faith is solid confidence built on convincing evidence. We don’t believe because we simply want to believe. We believe because there are good solid reasons to believe. The foundation of strong personal faith comes together brick by brick. But it won’t necessarily be easy and it won’t happen overnight. Finally, we believe because Jesus enables us to believe. Faith ultimately is a gift from God (1 Cor. 12:9, Gal. 5:22).