Unbelief: Overcoming Our Days of Doubt

By Chris Foote

I dont know about you, but I have to take some comfort in the story of Peters going down into the water. Please dont think me unkind! But how worthless would I feel with my level of unbelief if he had no doubt in him whatsoever as he ventured onto the waters? How low would my head sink, thinking of my unbelief, if he kept the faith and did cartwheels on top of the water? He mightve even started to Riverdance all over the sea! But he didnt. He was human, just like you and me. I mean, he was a disciple who saw the miracles firsthand. He journeyed with Jesus and witnessed the paralyzed walk, the blind see, and the mute speak.

And now, he actually sees Jesus walking on the water! What else does he need to see? Nothing. After all this, Peter has the faith to volunteer to step out of the boat and onto the water with Jesus. Wow! How amazing is that? That is beyond courageous in my book. I wonder if he waited with bated breath for Jesus to agree to his request. I wonder if he stepped out of the boat with fear and trepidation, waiting for something firm below his feet or if he pushed his brother Andrew and Bartholomew out of the way to leap onto the waves. Regardless, it didnt take long before the soggy platform started to diminish. And the passage says all he saw was the wind, and down he went. But there Jesus was, with a helping hand to save him and to ask him why he doubted. Its as if Jesus was asking, Aint you seen enough of me to trust me? What else do you want from me before you believe? And I think He has said that to us many times too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512731071

Chris Foote

Chris Foote lives in Memphis, Tennessee, with his wife, Natascha, and two children, Lily and Dylan. Chris grew up in the church, but never fully comprehended the message of the Gospels and eternal life until after a time away from the church and from God during his late teen years. He discovered on January 31, 1993, that God’s arms are always open. Working full time since, Chris started to wonder how his time and efforts furthered the kingdom of Christ. He felt the urge to start documenting his thoughts and various Scriptures that helped him start to overcome the doubt he had experienced. It was his own brand of therapy. He soon felt his words could help others solidify their faith.

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Copyright © 2016 Chris Foote.

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Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

All Scripture quotations in this publications are from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-3108-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3109-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3107-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902444

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/26/2016

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Who Was That Doubting Man?

Chapter 2: Beatitudes for the Nobody

Chapter 3: Got Envy?

Chapter 4: Turning Failures into Faith

Chapter 5: O Me of Little Faith

Chapter 6: Keep the Grain Thing the Main Thing

Chapter 7: I See Doubting People

Chapter 8: A Big Bowl of Grace With a Side of Mercy, Please!

Chapter 9: Which Thief Are You?

Chapter 10: The Tomb Is Empty!

Chapter 11: Go and Doubt No More

I am thrilled to dedicate this book to my wife Natascha; my daughter, Lily Grace; and my son, Dylan—blessings each.

Words could never express the joy you have given to me.

Introduction

Hello. My name is Chris. And I’m a doubter.

As I take a step back and look at my relationship with God, I see days of confidence. I know He’s there and working for the good in my life. But I also see days of unbelief. I still know He’s there, but I’m less convinced that I will feel any interaction with Him or see His interceding in my life. It sorta feels like there should be a Doubters Anonymous meeting that I could hook up with on those days. I could listen to the stories of others and their days of triumph in their trust of God. I could empathize with some who fell off the faith wagon and spent the last few days doubting our almighty Father.

Do you suffer from the disease of unbelief? Don’t we all from time to time? We doubt. We doubt each other. We doubt the leaders of our country. We even doubt our spouses, families, and friends sometimes. It seems the older I get, the more I doubt. But there is one who should never be doubted. There is one who has never done wrong, only good to us and for us. So why are we plagued with skepticism about God, His power and majesty, and His plans for us? Is it because we can’t interact with Him face-to-face in our own personal garden of Eden? Or because we don’t have a burning bush in our backyards, telling us what we should do and what He has in store for us? It would be great to listen to God speak directly to us from that bush while sipping lemonade after a hard day of yard work, wouldn’t it? And I guess we haven’t been petrified out of our socks by a blinding light and a voice from heaven on the way to work this morning, like Paul on the road to Damascus. If you’re like me, you didn’t witness the ocean separate into two during your last family vacation to the beach, revealing to you the right path to take in life.

We know God does not interact with us today like in the biblical days. The timing of His communications certainly doesn’t gel with our expectations. And with each passing day, it seems to get harder and harder to hear God’s still, small voice, especially with all the noise pollution constantly flooding our ears. But we have His Word to fall back on. The Bible contains God’s words and is inspired by our Father in heaven. It is truly a miracle that these words have been passed down from generation to generation into our hands. The Bible is the most widely distributed and best-selling book of all time. And yet, the contents of it cast the most doubt upon the shoulders of believers from an unbelieving world. Words are twisted. Passages are misconstrued. The misinterpretation is sometimes deliberate to catch us off guard. And if we are not prepared for the weight being tossed upon us, we certainly will be crushed beneath it.

The Bible is the number-one tool with which to wage war against your unbelief in God, His love, and His power. But how often do you read it? Come on; be honest. When you can even find time for it, do you read between the lines and see how the passages interact with your life today? Do you ever put yourself in the shoes of the biblical character? How would you respond if you were Jonah? Would you make a good Lot, Ruth, or King Solomon? What about John the Baptist?

How many copies and how many translations of the Bible do we have sitting idle on our bookshelves while we bitterly meander through life? We exert a lot of energy on guesswork from all of our aimless