Trusting God in the Dark

What should we do with our doubt? Is it sinful? Is there an appropriate place for it in the life of a Christian? Is there hope when we don’t understand God’s purposes?

Our friend, Steve Teter, came from our sister church in Franklin, WV this past Sunday to speak on the subject of battling spiritual doubt. There are some struggles that are self-induced due to neglecting spiritual disciplines and other means of God’s grace. However, Steve spoke about the doubt that arises out of intense or prolonged trials.

For the Christian, faith ultimately comes down to two fundamental issues of belief:

  1. Is there a God? - Is there a sovereign God who rules this world?

  2. Is he trustworthy? - Is this God so thoroughly good and personally involved in the world that I can trust him completely with my life?

The existence of a sovereign God and the character of that God are the foundations of a vital, living faith. However, trials and suffering often shake these two pillars and lead us to question both God’s power and character.

In such circumstances of darkness, Isaiah 50:10 says:

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

So, how do we do this? How do we trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God while walking in the darkness?

We invite you to listen to Steve’s sermon in full by clicking the link below.

Sermon Quotes

Without faith it is impossible to please God for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek him. - Heb 1:6

There is a pain for believers that gives suffering a unique sharpness.  Suffering is the common experience of the human race…And yet suffering touches the believer with a sharper and uniquely piercing pain…The worshipper truly believes God is sovereign.  He or she really believes that the living God is in control of the world.  And so, when suffering comes, it must be God who ultimately sends it – after all, he is in control, is he not?...it is God who is in some sense doing the hurting. - Christopher Ash

There are believers with a clear conscience, no hidden sin, trusting in God for forgiveness and walking in the light with him, and yet who suffer terribly…It is a problem.  But it is important for us to notice that it is a problem only for the believer - Christopher Ash

Not that I am (I think) in danger of ceasing to believe in God.  The real danger is in coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not “so there is no God after all” but “so this is what God is really like.  Deceive yourself no longer.” - C.S. Lewis  (A Grief Observed)

The temptation to doubt does not come in not believing God but in believing what is not God.  The danger is that we press judgment too far and our speculation creates such a distorted picture of God that we cannot continue to believe in good faith. - Os Guinness

Believing the wrong thing is always halfway to believing nothing.  Our misrepresentations of God are so pathetically inadequate or monstrously hideous that to believe in him any longer is unnecessary or repugnant. - Os Guinness

Suffering is the most acute trial that faith can face, and the questions it raises are the sharpest, the most insistent, and the most damaging that faith will meet. Can faith bear the pain and still trust God, suspending judgment and resting in the knowledge that God is there, God is good, and God knows best? Or will the pain be so great that only meaning will make it endurable so that reason will be pressed further and further and judgments must be made? But if the Christian's faith is to be itself and let God be God at such times, it must suspend judgment and say, "Father, I do not understand you, but I trust you. - Os Guinness in (God In the Dark)

There are facts of life in fallen world that we will never be able to explain but must never explain away.  Faith, however, can suspend judgment on these questions, for there is no question we cannot leave with God if he is the Father of Jesus Christ.

I belong to God.  He is faithful.  His words are true.  And transformation – the ultimate Springtime – already planted, is coming. - Elisabeth Elliot

Resources

Below are the resources that Steve recommended: