Take Your Doubts about God to God
Take It to the Lord in Prayer
Jeremiah 20 is the prayer of a suffering believer. Imagine the prophet in solitary confinement—weakened with physical pain, exhausted by emotional turmoil, fearful of what tomorrow might bring. Now hear the first words out of his mouth. They come in the form of an invocation to Almighty God. “O Lord,” the prophet cries. “O Lord!” (Jer. 20:7).
God always invites us to take our troubles straight to him. This is what godly people have done throughout history. It is what Job did on the ash heap, when he was grieving the death of his loved ones (Job 1:21). It is what David did in the cave, when he was hiding from King Saul (Ps. 57). It is what Jonah did in the belly of the great fish, when he ran away from God (Jonah 2). It is also what Jesus did on the cross, when he was suffering for our sins and felt separated from his loving Father. “My God!” he cried out. “My God, my God” (Matt. 27:46).
Even when we think that God is the problem and not the solution, as Jeremiah did—even when we think he is incriminated by what we are experiencing—we should talk things over with him. In every dark night of the soul, we should take our troubles to the secret place and meet with God in prayer. Where else can we open our hearts so freely? Who else could possibly address our concerns? There is never any need for us to hide our feelings. We can always take our struggles to the Lord in prayer.
I Have My Doubts
Philip Graham Ryken
This book examines 10 Bible stories that address faith and doubt, reassuring readers that doubt is normal for Christians and that God can use times of uncertainty to renew their faith.
Praying and Praising in Prison
Something amazing happened to Jeremiah as he prayed that night in prison: he began to take heart. Somehow, the Holy Spirit was ministering to his soul. Suddenly—and totally unexpectedly—he interrupted his complaint long enough to hold a short worship service. Yes, he felt alone and afraid, depressed and discouraged. Yes, he believed in that moment that God was against him. Nevertheless, in Jeremiah 20:11–13 he offers a little song of praise to his God. This gives us a second thing to do in the dark nights of our soul, however counterintuitive it may seem: give praise to God.
Jeremiah’s worship service may have been short, but it was also complete. His psalm includes a confession of faith, a petition for deliverance, and a hymn of praise.
The prophet’s confession of faith reads like this:
But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. (Jer. 20:11)
Jeremiah did not understand what was happening to him. Even God seemed to be against him. Yet the prophet still testified to what he knew to be true about the character of his Savior. In his comments on these verses, John Calvin wrote:
God always invites us to take our troubles straight to him.
Here the Prophet sets up God’s aid against all the plottings formed against him. However, then, might perfidious friends on one hand try privately to entrap him, and open enemies might on the other hand publicly oppose him, he yet doubted not but that God would be a sufficient protection to him.1
Jeremiah believed that God was with him even when God seemed far away. Jeremiah knew that the Lord was strong even though Jeremiah felt powerless. He expected his enemies to be defeated even though they appeared to triumph. So, even when he was tempted to doubt it, the prophet confessed that God would be his salvation.
What is the functional confession of our own faith—not just the creed we recite in church but the confidence we live by every day? Despite our troubles, are we able to say that God is with us like a mighty warrior?
Next comes prayer. Deep down, Jeremiah believed in God’s loving care, and because of this, he was willing to ask for help:
O Lord of hosts,
who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause. (Jer. 20:12)
When Jeremiah doubted, he did not try to solve his problems on his own. Instead, he committed his cause to the Lord. For him, this meant praying that his cause would be vindicated. Our case may be different, but the principle is the same: if we believe that God is with us and has the power to help us, then we should ask him for the help that only he can give.
Notes:
- John Calvin, A Commentary on Jeremiah, 5 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1989), 3:38.
This article is adapted from I Have My Doubts: How God Can Use Your Uncertainty to Reawaken Your Faith by Philip Graham Ryken.
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