Doubt

So much is being said about doubt within the church. I'm not sure that doubt is at any higher level than it had been in the past. It is certainly more talked about. People feel more comfortable expressing struggles and doubt. Several people have had rather public struggles.

I marvel at why doubt is still considered negative.  Doubt and questions have been the impetus for so many great things. Martin Luther doubted in the church dogma and expressed his doubt publicly. It paved the way for the reformation, which in turn brought about conditions necessary for the restoration. Joseph Smith went to God with questions about his own standing before God and doubt or questions about which church to join.

My own testimony started because of doubt. When I was seven, there was a sharing time lesson where one of the ideas taught was that baptism would make you happy. I remember saying to myself that there was no way being dunked in the water would make you happy. I was still going to do it and wanted to be baptised, but the fact that it would make you happy. I was not convinced.  However, upon coming out of the water and waiting to be confirmed, I felt happy. It was a happiness from outside of myself. I knew that God was happy with my decision and I was happy.  I couldn't stop smiling. 

Doubt is the impetus for change. I truly believe that God allows doubt to enter into our lives so that we can grow. It makes us examine what we believe and why we do things. It also gives us the opportunity to grow in faith. Faith is a virtue that is specifically based on acting without knowing. We can hope or believe or want something, but until we see it we do not have knowledge. So our actions are based on faith. As we doubt, it gives us the chance to act in faith.

I am grateful for the sounds I have experienced. They have led to great learning and experience in my life. Don't dwell in doubt, use it to grow.

Sunny Sunday #7 - Come Thou Fount - Verse 5

O that day when freed from sinning,

I shall see Thy lovely face;

Clothèd then in blood washed linen

How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,

Take my ransomed soul away;

Send thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day.

What a joyous reunion when we meet our refuge and strength face to face.  What will that moment be like?  You have depended on Him throughout life.  You have been strengthened by Him.  You have been saved by Him.  In that moment, we will likely come to know even more deeply His love for us.  We will come to know that he has helped us much more than we could have ever known.  We will be eternally grateful for what he has done for us.

Sometimes, we don't recognize His help as we move through this life.  We should always trust that he is helping us and guiding us through this confusing life.  One day we will understand exactly how and we will kneel in awe at his grace, mercy and love for us.  What a great day that will be.

Sunny Sunday #6 - Come Thou Fount - Verse 4

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

So you have been found.  You have sought the help of Christ and you are not perfect yet.  The beauty of the atonement is that it overcomes our weakness.  Christ does not ask perfect performance.  Rather that we come with a broken heart and contrite spirit. This verse is the embodiment of the heart that has broken and acknowledged its need for help.

We are going to wander as we go through life.  Everyone wonders.  No one can walk exactly down the straight and narrow path. We rely on the mercy of Christ to bind us to the path and help us make course corrections along the way.  The good new of the gospel is that these wanderings do not preclude us from obtaining the Kingdom of Heaven.  Rather, we receive that gift through the grace of Christ.