S7E15 - Luke 7:18-35 - Dealing with Doubt

Doubt can feel like a private failure, but Luke 7 tells a different story. John the Baptist, the bold forerunner who preached repentance and pointed to Jesus, hits a wall in prison and asks the question many of us are afraid to say out loud: “Are you the one?” If a believer that faithful can struggle, then doubt isn’t proof you’re fake. It’s a signal that something needs attention. 

We walk verse by verse through Luke 7:18–35 and sort out what doubt actually is. We talk about emotional doubt that grows in painful seasons, intellectual doubt that rises when life doesn’t fit our expectations, and the crucial difference between honest questions and prideful unbelief. Then we look at Jesus’ response: He doesn’t mock John. He gives evidence. He points to what has been seen and heard, His miracles, His authority, and the good news preached to the poor, and He invites a real decision. 

Along the way, we connect this to spiritual growth, Christian discipleship, and why remembering God’s past faithfulness strengthens your present faith. We also touch on faith deconstruction in a healthy sense: letting go of unbiblical add-ons and rebuilding on Scripture, not on 30-second snippets and half-context arguments. 

If you’re wrestling with Christian doubt, faith questions, or disappointment with God, this conversation is for you. Listen, share it with a friend who needs it, and then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the podcast. What’s one question you want to bring to Jesus right now?

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Transcript

Welcome And Luke Series Setup

SPEAKER_03 0:08

What's up, Lifehouse family? Welcome back to the Life Talk Podcast. We are always excited and glad to be podcasting and coming to you today. And so we are continuing on with our journey through Luke, continuing through the month of April and addressing some some really deep topics that come to us as we work through God's God's word and going into scripture. But before we jump in today, I'm joined by the bad news, good news bears. We continue to have an all-star crew getting very seasoned here. We we used the baseball metaphor last last week and man, baseball season full swing. Anybody been to any games yet? You guys checking out any ball this year? No, maybe. You gotta wait. It's like early. It's 162 games if you're a major league fan. But I do have Jeremy Alrich is with me. Jeremy, what's going on? I don't watch.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Nate, I'm glad to be back. Thanks for having me back.

John The Baptist As Doubter

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Absolutely. You did a good job last time. So, you know, plus we need the quality check. I think we've been good since you've been back. Jonathan Bush, good to have Jonathan back with us. Yeah, glad to be here. And Rico DeSilva running his streak, I think 11. You know, we should do like the Cal Ripkin thing, like bringing down a banner every time on a number. What's up, Rico? Running my race. Glad to be here. Amen, brother. So well, when we do work through God's word, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, we hit some really good topics. And so today, I think one, if you're not uh familiar with this topic, uh, you probably are not being honest with yourself, but we are gonna talk about doubt today. We are really going to dig into what it means to doubt and why it's not unusual or uncommon. God's word gives us some very real pictures here that we can learn from. And so we're gonna talk about doubt. And so in Luke chapter 7, we're gonna start in verse 18, go all the way through 35. And this is an episode of really a believer dealing with doubt and how they work through it and how Christ responds. And so I want to just start really quick in verse 24 through 28, and then we'll work back. But in verse 24 through 28, we're being reminded, Jesus is reminding the crowd of who John the Baptist is, because our doubter here is none other than John the Baptist. So we're not talking about a spiritual lightweight. Jesus even says that when John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. So he's reminding the crowds who John is. He said, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. So don't spend a whole lot of time on these verses. We've done some episodes. Encourage you, if you're just joining us, go back and check our archives earlier this year. We did some deep dives on John the Baptist, the significance of him as a forerunner of Christ, things that he was doing with the baptism. So please go check those out. But the point I want to make here is again, we're not talking about Joe Schmoe off the street, brand new believer. We're talking about somebody who had been walking the walk for a long time, somebody who had been doing great things for God. And if we go back to verse 18, we see that the disciples of John the Baptist reported all these things to him, these things being what they were seeing of Jesus do. And John, calling two of disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And when the men had come to him, they said, talking to Jesus, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? So in these verses we see John the Baptist, which contextually we know he is in prison. That's why he had to send messengers. We can read about in other areas of the gospel because he had spoken out against Herod and adultery and things like that. He had been thrown in prison, he was really facing a tough time, and you know, he'd been baptizing for a while and hearing about Jesus, so had even baptized Jesus. So he's really struggling with is this really the guy? Is this the Messiah? So what we also can see is it's despair, and a lot of times the depths that we get into in life where doubt starts to creep in. So even again, strong believers, men of God, can deal with these when things aren't going great, you know, especially for John the Baptist, like I'm standing up for God. I'm literally preaching, you know, the kingdom, preaching the good news, preaching repentance, and here I am in prison. So I think doubts can come in two different forms. We can see emotional doubts, starting to doubt God's goodness, starting to doubt our circumstances just not being what we think they should be. And then there could be intellectual doubts. If this is the Messiah, if Jesus is, you know, who I think he should be, you know, why is this happening? So we can have intellectual and emotional doubts. So I think where doubt comes from and what it looks like are two things we can really take some encouragement from here in God's Word.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Well one thing you started off when when you were introducing this topic is if you aren't familiar with this, you're probably lying to yourself. Because I think we we've all faced doubts. We all have those moments where life does not match our own expectations. And and it's in those moments that we need to acknowledge that doubt in and of itself is not a bad thing, but we need to bring that. We need to bring that like John did to Jesus. He doesn't walk, he doesn't walk away from Jesus with his doubt. He brings his questions to Jesus. Doubt handled in his presence and in God's presence can become faith.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

I was just looking in 1 Corinthians 122, it talks about about you know Christ and and who he was and the argument, you know, that you know, again, supporting as a the God incarnate, fully God, fully man, but it just talks about what were the Jews expecting. And in one twenty-two it says, uh, for Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But you know, what was preached or what they preach is Christ, and just to some level, that that is what you know, why did they, you know, it says, why did you go out? What were you looking for? You know, Christ was saying when you when you were seeing who John was, and to some level it's it's that is just our nature to some levels. We're just we're we want to know, well, is that is that true? Is that is that accurate? You know, there there is this hunger, this desire, I think, innate that God puts in each of us to to want to know what is right, you know, to know you know, where do I fit in the world, what is my place, how do I function? Like just basic core questions. And to some level, when what we experience, what we see, or what we observe is counter to that, then we that's where the doubt comes in. Because it's like, well, maybe that's not true, maybe it's not what I believe, maybe it's and and so it's just in a fallen world, it's just part of sin, it's part of a consequence of sin to to have that.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

I like how you started again. Uh that that's that's something that speaks values to me. Um, because something that I had to uh come to face to face in the mirror is is a quote that I saw uh and it says that doubt is not always disbelief. It can be confusion in a painful season. So seeing how this individual who is in jail having these thoughts because of his circumstances, but again, it for us as we read this is a more of a faith issue than this belief. You mentioned sin. Sin can literally creeps in and allow the enemy to go ahead and cause confusion. Right? So one of the things that for me as I build on my faith and I get more mature is that faith is in the process of be fully in alignment to what he does, but not only that, is to see what he has done already, therefore my faith should be stronger.

Emotional Doubt And Intellectual Doubt

SPEAKER_03 9:21

Yeah, I think again, you guys made some great points in terms of like what you said, Jonathan, when we see things are not the way that we think they should be, or even as we read in God's word, that can cause us definite issues, you know, in terms of understanding. Now, you know, I think Augustine says faith seeks understanding, and we'll talk a little bit more about that, but we definitely need to recognize one doubt's okay, you know, like you should, you know, have some doubts, and you know, it's not like you're a hundred percent like we come to faith humbly, but then we're learning, we're growing. So there's gonna be things that happen, there's gonna be things that come, and a lot of times our doubts are what's gonna help us grow. I I think I heard it put well that doubts are an invitation to deeper faith, and we'll and we'll talk more about that. But it was a really good way I put it. Doubts are an invitation to deeper faith. So when you don't understand what's going on, will you trust, will you seek? And I think, like you guys pointed out, which we'll see, John the Baptist took those doubts to Christ. And we'll summarize some takeaways at the end in terms of what we can do if you are in a season of doubt right now, or if you want to be prepared, you know, for a season of doubt that will come upon you, how we can do that. But John the Baptist sent messengers, he went to Christ, he didn't go, you know, to somewhere else to seek, you know, some other like fourth, fifth, sixth opinion. But let me go to to Christ if I'm having doubts. Like, where can I go and go directly to him? So so then we see Jesus' response, you know. So the disciples come and and we'll see in verse 21 through 23 that Jesus demonstrates and demands a response. So he he gives a demonstration, and then you know, there's a response required. And so we're on the the de alliteration train, if you can't tell today. Uh a little disappointed in you guys. Last couple episodes. We got to get better, get some deeper vocabulary here. But but we see demonstration and demands in in verse 21. Definitely, definitely, that's right. I love it. So verse 21 says, In that hour, so when John the Baptist's messengers came, gee he, Jesus, healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he bestowed state. And he answered them. So he's doing this in their presence and showing them. He says, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. So we see Jesus doesn't say, like, well, take it or leave it, I said who I am, you know. You you can figure it out. Like, no, Jesus actually takes the time to demonstrate, to show who he is. And so we get that in God's word. There's so much that we see written down, but I think this is also why testimonies are amazing things. We do this in Forge, we still do monthly here on the podcast sharing our stories when we actually think about how God has worked in our life, the true miracles that are happened, the life change. It is demonstrated. Like our faith is not something that is just, you know, this abstract thing. We have seen it happen in fellow believers' lives and why being in community is very important, because we are able to see it demonstrated. We see God working in lives, and here specifically, Jesus physically demonstrates it. And then that demands a response, though. When we see this change, when we hear these stories, when we read God's word, we see it demonstrated, and then we are able to respond. We're able to move through our doubts as we seek the answers, as we see things demonstrated, people who have been through similar things.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yeah, and I think this goes back to what Rico was talking about when when we are when we have these moments of doubt to go back to what and and and meditate and rehearse what God has done. You know, in the Old Testament we see them raising up the towers or the Ebenezer stones of, you know, this is a moment this is a place of remembrance for us of what the great things the Lord has done. And when we do that, when we go back to those things that the Lord has done in our lives and in you know throughout redemptive history, we can see that faith grows. Our faith will be strengthened and it will grow. But it's not about what we wish he would do, it's about what the Lord has done. Because there's a different perspective in between our expectations and what what God has planned for us.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, the Ebenezer Stones definitely are are points that we can, you know, even what is it, two podcasts ago or so, talking about the rock, you know, those are points of where we've put into practice where our faith was tested, where we had some doubt, and we could rely on God and realize we weathered the storm. And I found in life, like whatever tomorrow holds, God doesn't want me to sit where I am today. He wants me to grow. And and so with the challenges I have, whether it's uh raising kids or you know, challenges at work or you know, some you know, disagreement in the family or whatever it may be, those are opportunities that God gives us that, yeah, I have a doubt of how this is going to resolve. I'm not exactly sure, but I can it's an opportunity for me to trust God to intercede on my behalf, on my family's behalf, to do, to heal, to redeem, to give life. And it's interesting because at the end here in verse 23 it says, And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. I think, especially today, I think that's the one thing for you see, just in culture today, where it's just everybody is offended by something. But it all gets down to a lot of times is they're offended because they don't they can't do what they want to do. And really the the Christian faith is we're saying we acknowledge we're all we're all sinners, but it's because of Christ and my trust in him, my faith in Christ of what he did, you know, his death and resurrection, that that I am saved, that I have life, and I am not offended by that. Like that is something I'm I love to share. I'm excited about. I want to like my response to whatever doubt I have, because yeah, have I had doubts? Absolutely. But I know I'm I have an assurance, again, based on those in my life. I got very clear, you know, getting back to the testimonies that we share of times where God showed up and did what I could not do or what I even expected to do. And and it just you look back on that and you can go, okay, yeah, that was God.

Jesus Gives Evidence For Faith

SPEAKER_04 16:11

Uh one of the things that great points there, but one of the things for me when having dog is understanding just because you have dog, it doesn't mean that you are are not fulfilling your will in your life. Right? We already know by reading what John the Baptist comes to do, he already knew his purpose. Great is he that comes on me, right? So he already knew. But let's bring into perspective our generation now, and an exclamation point in what I'm going to say. A lot of us, and this is for the here who listening, maybe your doubt about something, especially when it comes to faith, especially when it comes to believing the word, especially when it comes to understanding who Christ is without the resources that we have out there, is because of the lack of certainty on what we're doing with the gospel. A lot of us have doubt, like for instance, when we speaking with somebody and they know they're not spending time in scripture in the word of God, of course they're gonna have doubt about it. So, in this scenario, again, we have the scripture, we have the word, we have what happened at that time in order for us to understand that this is will happen. So, for the comfort of me is that just because I have that, it doesn't mean that I'm not walking into my purpose. I had that to even to even to come to this country. I didn't know the language now. Just even to do that podcast, knowing that I'm terrified because I need to pronunciate well in order for you, the listener, to listen and understand what I'm saying. I doubt myself. A lot of us even say, Well, I don't like myself listening to me because I don't know how I might sound. That's that, right? But for the receiver, if we know that we are in congruence with scripture and truly allow the Holy Spirit that live inside of us, that yes, is going to come, but the affirmation of what happened in people's testimony can give you a stronger faith when it comes to the living.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Some really important points, and I think that's you know, in in the book of John, you know, Jesus says, God has been working, and I am working and continuing to work, and we have the Holy Spirit. So I think both seeing demonstration, we can see it in the world today if we're looking for it, and we have God's word, which is living and active. It's not just an old book that sits on a shelf, but it truly continues to speak today through life change. So we see demonstration, and then we just went through Easter, you know, a week or so ago, and really that's the time when the resurrection, you know, that demands that if Jesus is who he said he was, if he died and rose from the dead, you know, who else do you know is rising from the dead, you know, any time in the last two thousand years? So it demands a response and a deepening of our faith. So there are others who have gone through this and we'll we'll touch on that more.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

But what happened just before this was that he raised the dead, the man from the dead. So he already showed he has authority over death. And so I mean, yeah, it's and then would take his life back up again.

Pride Offense And Rejecting God

SPEAKER_03 19:36

So so we see that Jesus to the disciples of John the Baptist, he says, Look, here I've demonstrated this, and and then this will be something you have to respond to. But I'm giving you proof, I'm giving you evidence of this. But then if we jump over the John the Baptist verses to verse 29, we start to see the distractions and the deniers of of how people do respond. You do have to go one way or the other, you can't be halfway when it comes to Jesus. And it says that when all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized, baptized by him. Jesus then says, To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another. We played the flute for you, and you did not dance, we sang a dirge, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come, eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say that he has a demon. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. So we see this response. We see very different responses of those who truly find that, okay, you know, I've been baptized, I've repented, I'm understanding, I'm responding to these demonstrations. And then you have the Pharisees who deny. And I think how we approach our doubts, are we truly looking for an answer? Or you probably know people, you probably have friends, maybe we're skeptics, where they just always have a reason not to believe. And that's two illustrations Jesus is giving here. Like the kids in the marketplace is like, hey, I expected this and you didn't meet my tune. Jesus, you don't dance to my tune, and you don't meet my expectations, or those always find something. You know, well, John the Baptist did it this way. Well, that's wrong. Well, Jesus did it the other way. Well, that's wrong too. You know, so people have a remarkable propensity for self justification and trying to meet our own expectations. And where Christ, who is God and perfect man, doesn't meet our expectations, well, then we want to doubt and and go a different direction. I think it was a Tim Keller who I always listen to a lot, and he has you know, unique. Things to say, tell me what kind of God you believe in or that you do doubt, and there's a good chance I don't believe in that God either. You know, you're trying to put up a straw man of of who God is and not really go to Christ, not really go to God's word, and you're making things up so that you can just deny it and find a reason not to believe. So we see a lot of distraction. People today also too will uh have a doubt, but I won't really address it. I'm not actually going to pursue an answer. I'm just gonna use that as an excuse to not follow faith, to not pursue a relationship with God. So we easily get distracted. We were just talking before we jumped on, everything's in 30-second increments. So if I can't find an answer in 30 seconds, then I'm going to move on, or or we'll just outright deny because we want to do our own thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Yeah, with with that argument, I think a lot of times the like you said, a straw man's logic, it's it's not it's not that it's almost like the uh someone that just always a contrarian, like they just take the counterpoint, you know, because the heart gets back to kind of what I was mentioning earlier in verse 23, is are or the opposite of that is is that they're offended by him. If if when it comes down to it, it's if I acknowledge that you are God, I have to bend the knee. We all will bend the knee, as as God's word tells us, but they don't, you know, they they stand in in counter to that. And it it kind of it's it's the contrast. It's like, well, it's that counter straw man, like you're saying, is that you know, we played the flute and you didn't dance. Okay, great. Well, maybe you're sad. Okay, so we do a dirge, but you still don't we it's like we give you two extremes and you don't want to do the other. You're just you're you just don't want to. You know, you you are standing in opposition to what what God is revealed, his word, his truth, his his life. And I I think as Christians nowadays getting to the point of the the 30-second snippet and stuff, is I think we need to wrestle more and have time and and and space to be able to really answer these questions because they are important questions that can't fully be answered in 30 seconds. And like you had mentioned, Nate, is the context. Like if you don't have the context and stuff, and then and then it goes across, I think, the spectrum is we're we're losing the ability as a culture to really have these discussions, important discussions that are able to address and not just give a band-aid or or a little sound bite that you kind of grab onto, but give you actual meat of understanding and and assurance so that what whatever happens, whatever the circumstance, you have that truth that you can hold on to. D for discussions. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Just having a subliminal effect here. But I agree with 100% agree with you.

SPEAKER_04 24:53

I like I like I like man, this is this is your 30-second clip right here. There's there's something that we're gonna pull this out here. Let me let me pull it out real quick. Let's do it. Verse we can see not a correlation, but we see our opposition on verses 29 and 30. You see two kinds of people, two major decisions, two major observations. The tax collectors justify God. Number one. In verse 30, then you see the Pharisees and lawyers rejected God. So here we see two set of people that they know that the Messiah was gonna come, that he came to fulfill God's plan, but they do have to make a decision. So is gonna give you two cer two sets of examples. Either is gonna go towards humility and growth, or the second is gonna go towards rejection and pride. How many times I'm I'm putting myself in the context before the Lord came to myself and I literally allow uh received him for his grace. I was that kind of person with the pride. And this is for if you listening right now, you you might be feeling sturdy right now, you might be feeling something like what is my doubt? What is my own belief? What well maybe we have to check our pride because as we read here, the people who know, the people that know we already talk about hey, we we need to be in scripture, but just by reading scripture, that doesn't mean that you know the fulfillment on the Lord in everybody's life. Well, yet pride is the downfall of that. So that that just jumped onto the page right now. That tax collector they justify and they got baptized. Yet the ones who claim their self the spiritual leaders, they reject it. Why? Because of their pride.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

You took the words out of my mouth, Rico. I was I was just about to say that that like there's a difference between the humility that we see in one group and the pride that we see in in the other group. You know, and pride still bl is still blinding the Pharisees, where humility is opening that door to faith. You know, and then there's another point I wanted to to touch on. I think if we've said it already, I apologize. But like but there's a difference between honest doubt and unbelief. And and honest doubt that we bring to the Lord is doubt that can strengthen faith, but unbelief is like what what we're seeing in the Pharisees, where they have that pride and that in them in themselves and in in what they've all always held on to. And then the the last thing I would want to bring up right now is this this the verse that says that the wisdom is justified by her children. And so that what does that mean for us? I mean, we need to look for the fruit of wisdom in our own lives as well. And what does that what what does what does that look like in our lives? Well, we we know that the fruit of the spirit like is one of the things we can look at, or you know, with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Like, are we are are those fruits coming out of us? That's that's an exhibit that's an exhibition of I think like some of this wisdom, some of this what Jesus is talking about, that wisdom, you know, repentance, obedience, and the transformation that we have as as new creations in Christ.

Doubt Your Doubts And Seek Discipleship

SPEAKER_03 28:41

So a lot to wrap up in scripture, but I want to kind of touch some things we can take away. I think takeaways, you know, again, as you're listening, if you're dealing with doubts, or maybe you know some people are dealing with doubts, or again, you want to just be prepared, and we know there's a big thing, I think it's died down some, but there was the big deconstructionist movement, people deconstructing their faith, and a lot of these things that was so popular on the internet. But in some ways, one, you know, like honestly, you should probably deconstruct some areas, you know, especially what you grew up with, and this is something whether you're Christian or not, you need to determine what you believed. And it was interesting reading about a lot of people who have deconstructed. They deconstructed a lot of times out of like a very fundamentalist Christianity that preached a lot of things that you should deconstruct, like being told the King James Version is the only version of the Bible you can study or various other things. You can only women can only wear dresses in church. Like you should deconstruct those things, like you should doubt, because that's not in the Bible, and that's not something that is biblical. So if you've been taught certain things, it's okay to have those kind of doubts, but then reconstruct your faith truly on God's word. So a couple takeaways, doubt your doubts. You know, be humble about your doubts. Like, I'm not the only one who's had this doubt. I should have doubt that this is really something that can't be answered. Like, doubt your doubts. Depend on Christ, go to Christ. We see John the Baptist's disciples, he goes to him. So don't go out in the world to find a bunch of answers. Go to God's word. If you believe, I think Jeremy, you mentioned kind of things, and I think we see here the baptism, like the tax collectors who had been baptized. If you're a believer, you've been baptized, you know what Christ has done in your life, and you remember it, you'll be able to depend on Christ through those times. Develop your faith. Don't just stay where you are. You know, we see throughout scripture, don't stay on spiritual milk, move on to meat. You know, the more you're working through and developing your faith, you're going to be able to work through your doubts so much better. And then a bonus D, discipleship. Discipleship, discipleship, discipleship. I don't say that just because I am the adult discipleship director here at Lifehouse, but if you're in discipleship, you'll have people who may have had the same doubts, who have good answers, who have ways to help you work through. So when you are in discipleship, when you are being discipled, you'll make good decisions and you'll work through your doubts in a much more faithful way. So those are a few takeaways, I think, maybe from your all's experience or or whatnot. Feel free to jump on and piggyback with those.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

I just want to if if any listener can, you know, can let us know how many D words Nate has come up with, that'll be like that'll be great.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Got a little scoreboard right over here, you know, keeping track. So crazy.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Uh I've left you actually got me uh trying to think of D.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

I'm trying to speak D and I have no D's. It's it's it's blank. But I think in general, just when it comes to doubts, is is my encouragement is when faced with that, it it is being honest with yourself and saying, okay, here's a doubt. And and a lot of times that's where in my prayers, when I have that, that's what I'm part of what I bring to God is to acknowledge, you know, whether it's just, you know, like when I was younger and I broke up with so-and-so, and now I'm like, I thought she was the one, or why didn't I get that job, or why did school end up that way? I fell failed, or something, you know, when life throws things at you that you aren't expecting, you turn, turn to what you know, turn to the word, not you know, when you say deconstruction, a lot of times the fallacy of that is, oh, well, everything is just you throw it away. It's kind of like cancel culture. Oh, well, they just need to be canceled. Well, that's not what God's kingdom teaches. It teaches restoration, it teaches the you turn away from your sin to life, from death to life, from the darkness to light. And so we we know there are things you know in your life that are good, that that is that the Bible teaches. And so hold on to those truths, and that's in part, you know, why why you read the Bible, why we go to church, is because that reminds us, that keeps us centered, it keeps us focused on what is good, and to to go back to that and build upon it. And then as things, you know, whether it's the legalism or or the some of those uncertainties, is you can set those aside and be able to basically be sanctified. It's what Christ, you know, it's what the Bible tells us, is we're being sanctified, that his word purifies us and and for all un for all righteousness, you know. And so that that's that's what we hopefully my encouragement is is continue and do that to to seek that.

SPEAKER_04 33:21

My encouragement is keep your pasture in scripture. And one of the things that come right of this uh passage is 1 Corinthians 14, 13, when it says God is not the author of confusion. And since you I'm speaking with the believer right now, your name is written in the book of life, and we know that the Lord is not a chaos Lord, He is a Lord of peace, a Lord of order, stability, and security. A lot of us we are struggling with God not because we got something, it's because of the resistance to learn the truth. So when we are becoming as we are, and here go the word again, pride, and we let the pride down, knowing that He will fulfill any doubt that we have is going to be the way to go. We spoke uh a couple episodes ago, we spoke about the dangerous prayers. Maybe that's one of the things that we truly need to consider. What am I praying to the Lord about? Because I know if I have doubt about something and I come to him, the author, not of confusion, he's not gonna lie about his word, he's gonna tell me or point somebody out there to develop the confidence that the confidence that I have, but more certainly, I leave it with this day, which is the discipleship. That is what in reality changed any doubt that I have. Why? Because I could go to my mentor besides scripture and ask the kind of things that I'm wrestling with. That's why it's so imperative to have somebody who be disciple from. So my question is who you being discipled by? Are you being discipled by the 30 second realm out there that it brings confusion because it doesn't have the full context? Or we being discipled by scripture who can clear out doubt because he's not an outer confusion, but the author of peace. That's my advice.

Final Encouragement And Listener Next Steps

SPEAKER_03 35:43

Yeah, lots of good stuff. And so just want to encourage our listeners, you know, if you are dealing with doubts, you're in good company and you should not feel a stigma. You know, we kind of hear that unfortunately in some Christian circles and churches, you know, you can feel ostracized, like, why are you dealing with these doubts? You know, just believe. And unfortunately, that can be a common response, but prayerfully, you know, in here at the Life Talk group, you know, we've all dealt with some doubts. We've all worked through some things, like we talk about with discipleship, you know, get plugged in, be seeking, post a question. You can send us a text on on the episodes. We're glad to answer questions. Love getting those as well. So if you do have those things that you'd like to hear talked out, you know, definitely let us know. But don't stay in doubt. It's an opportunity truly to deeper faith. It'll help you develop. And so uh just continue to lean into Christ. Again, you're God is an infinite God. I think we were talking before we jumped on. If we had all the answers, if we could fully know God and comprehend him, then he would not be God. So it is truly a lifelong journey, and that's what makes it awesome. We learn more stuff all the time. We continue to work through these questions, and then we're just amazed by the answers and seeing God's work.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

So yeah, there's a there's a level there of I it's not what doesn't erase doubt is that I have the answer, but I have trust there in God, and and I I may have a portion of it or or a glimpse of it, but it's it it's I'm not God, like you said. It it's it's I'm trusting a God who I know is uh sovereign and you know fulfilling his will. Good reasons for our faith.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

Life talk family, thanks for joining us. As always, we pray this episode was an encouragement to you, and so we hope that uh you're working through doubts, we're all working through them together, and we will look forward to seeing you next week. Thanks for tuning in to the Life Talk Podcast. If this episode encouraged you, please be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and leave a review so others can find this content as well. And we'll look forward to seeing you next Monday for another great episode.