The Rising Doubt

There’s an old hymn by George Croly titled “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart.” I especially like the fourth stanza, shown below.

Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh;

Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

The stanza focuses on internal struggles and the desire to respond to them properly. The speaker wants to learn to know God’s constant presence even when he does not feel it. He wants to learn to be patient when he does not see God’s answers to prayer. He wants to learn how to correctly bear the struggles of the soul. He lists two of those common struggles.

Sometimes the soul wants to give off a “rebel sigh.” This is not quite an outright outburst of defiance. Nevertheless, it is an expression of disagreement with God’s plan. It is a groan stemming from lack of submission, a heart-originated protest that wishes for things to be different. The previous post addressed this type of soul struggle. While a Christian may not understand, like, or agree with God’s work, he must yield to it. There should be no rebels among Christians.

The second type of soul struggle mentioned is the “rising doubt.” This one is also very common. When life doesn’t go the way a believer thinks it should, he is inclined to have doubts that accompany his protesting sighs. He starts to ask questions. “Is God really working in my life?” “Will God lead me?” “Is this promise for me, or is my case special?” “If I’m trying to do the right thing, why does it seem that nothing is working out?”

The hymn-writer speaks of checking or curtailing that doubt while it is still in the rising or formative stage. He wants to learn to stop that doubt dead in its tracks before it has a chance to grow larger. Doubts will do that. The initial doubt may be in a small area, but at its root, it is doubt of God. If a Christian starts to doubt God in one area, it is quite natural to begin doubting Him in other areas as well. When he starts to doubt God, the believer finds himself on a very dangerous path. Without realizing what is happening, he can quickly find himself doubting everything he has ever known of God.

Doubts are dangerous. Oh, how the Christian must guard against them! He must identify them for what they are, recognize their danger, and eliminate them before they do widespread damage. As the hymn-writer explains, God’s help is necessary to effectively meet this struggle of the soul.

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” II Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)