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Following God's lead will erase self-doubt

Have you ever had self-doubt?

Sometimes I question my decisions. It may be something small like cooking spaghetti for supper and thinking I should have gone the roast route. Or it might be which purse to buy. Then when I finally buy the purse, I go home and think, “I should have gotten the green one instead of the black one.”

My self-doubt doesn’t stop there. Self-doubt has caused me indecision about many things in life. I even have self-doubt when I know God has stirred my spirit to make a decision.

So if you have self-doubt like me, you are not alone. God used many people in the Bible who had self-doubt when they heard God calling. They may have felt that their abilities were far less than what God needed. Some characters made other excuses not to follow God and some even tried to run from God.

Consider Jonah; at first he just defied God in his decision.

I believe all of them felt that God was calling and it was up to their own strength. And that was the problem — they were thinking about their own strength.

So if you are doubting or having second thoughts about what God may be calling you to do, you are not alone.

Many Bible characters had self-doubt at times. They either felt inadequate or were afraid to respond to God’s calling. In fact there were plenty of people in the Bible who had severe self-doubts.

I am sure that Noah had self-doubt when God called him to build the ark. Could he do the job? He went ahead and followed God but probably was laughed at by all the people in that desert town because he was building an enormous boat. But Noah put his self-doubts aside, built the ark and as a result his entire family was saved. (Genesis 5:32-10:1)

Moses we know had self-doubt when God called him to lead the children of Israel out of captivity. “I am not good with words,” Moses said. Moses used excuse after excuse to try to convince God why he wasn’t the man for the job. Yet Moses obeyed God in spite of his self-doubt and the children of Israel were delivered. (Exodus 3:4-14)

God called Gideon to be a warrior and lead an army. Gideon at first responded to the angel that told him the Lord’s words, “The Lord has abandoned us.” (Joshua 6:13) I am sure Gideon had severe self-doubt. But Gideon surrendered to God and Gideon and his little 300-man army defeated thousands.

The virtuous Abigail for sure must have had self-doubts. One day she realized that her foolish and crass and drunkard husband Nabal had set the stage for a catastrophic event by not being cordial to David. David needed food for his men and all along they had camped by Nabal’s fields and animals and had not touched or harmed anything of Nabal’s. David sent word to Nabal for help with provisions for his men and Nabal, being a drunk, bad in public relations and foolish at heart, rebuffed David.

Then God gave Abigail, Nabal’s wife, the idea to go and meet David with food for his army. I am sure that Abigail had second thoughts as she headed over that rocky terrain, her donkeys loaded with supplies, and she facing David’s army who would fight at his command. Even more, she was doing this without her husband’s knowledge and that probably gave her real anxiety. Yet, she presented her provisions to David, and David softened toward Nabal’s rebuff and a severe and deadly confrontation was avoided. (1 Samuel 25)

The list goes on. Jochebed probably had self-doubt when she put baby Moses in a basket in the river to save his life. (Exodus 2:1-10) The daughters of Zelophehad probably had self-doubt when they approached Moses about getting their father’s inheritance. After all, they were women. But Moses ruled in their favor. (Numbers 27:3-4)

Ruth probably had doubts at first when she told her mother in law that she would go back to her home country with her. (Ruth 1:16) The woman at the well may have had self-doubt when Jesus first reached out to her and spoke to her but she responded and her life changed. (John 4:5-42)

We all sometimes have self-doubt. But the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives takes those self-doubts away and then God blesses our obedience.

Judy Brandon writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact her at: [email protected]

 
 
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