John 10:28
If you have trusted in Jesus Christ and yet continually doubt your salvation, then your whole life is thrown off balance. Key areas of faith begin to crumble, and you limit the work of the Holy Spirit in and through you. It is impossible to live an effective, empowered, Spirit-filled life if you are always wondering whether you are saved. Why, then, do believers so often doubt? Let’s consider five key reasons:
1. Sin. When disobedience is present in a person’s life, his prayers will be hindered, as will his grasp of spiritual ideas. So it’s understandable that sin can confuse a believer’s thoughts about salvation.
2. False Teaching. If you’ve been taught that salvation is dependent upon good works, then you have been misled.
3. Overemphasis on Emotions. Too often, the experience of being saved is tied to an emotional high. This leads many people to doubt their salvation during times of life’s natural “emotional lows.”
4. Disbelief. Acts 16:31 clearly states, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” If you’ve made this saving confession, then you are saved. Doubting the truth of this statement means that you fail to take God at His word.
5. Satanic Attack. The enemy’s goal is to alienate us from God. One of his most effective tactics is to cause us to question our standing with the Lord.
If you doubt your salvation, prayerfully examine your heart. Are any of these falsehoods corroding your faith? Allow the Lord to comfort you with His love—and the truth of your salvation.
Our quiet presence during someone else’s time of pain says more than any words of advice ever can. A grieving widow, for example, doesn’t need to hear our own tale of loss; she needs an arm around her shoulder so she realizes that she is not alone.
Think about the times that we bring our burdens before the Lord in prayer. Simply experiencing His presence lightens the weight we have been carrying. God’s response to our pain is a clear demonstration of how important it is to make ourselves available and listen to our neighbors. No matter how inadequate we might feel, we all can share a burden by spending time with a friend who is enduring hardship.
The Holy Spirit will let us know when words are not necessary and when it’s the right moment to speak. That oftentimes becomes our opportunity to share how the Lord has worked in our life during a painful period. When we give the Holy Spirit total control, He will bring to mind situations, emotions, and the ways God helped us. We can use those things to minister to others: Hurting people grab onto kindred stories as if to a lifeline. It gives them hope to reason that since the Lord shepherded one person through a valley of darkness, He will surely be faithful to do the same for another.
Our Spirit-developed compassion may require us to give our burdened neighbor other types of help—even material aid. It’s easy to pray for a friend or share our story with a church member, but we cannot limit ourselves to those things. If we are willing to be used by our heavenly Father, we must be open to His leading about how to offer assistance.
In Matthew 22:39, Jesus tells us the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. The best way to demonstrate care for relatives, friends, neighbors, and church family is to follow the Lord’s example and bear their burdens. Not only did the Savior take our sin debt upon Himself at Calvary; He also shared in the hurts of those who sought His comfort: blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46), the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11), and those who were demon-oppressed (Matt. 4:24). Jesus doesn’t discriminate with regard to whose burdens He will carry.
We are often tempted to be selective in choosing which acquaintances to help. According to Jesus’ example, we cannot bear someone else’s burdens based upon whether that person has lived up to some standard we have set. There are people who will never dress like us, hold opinions similar to ours, or share our interests. But those same people might be hurting and in need of somebody to help carry their difficulties. A genuine expression of godly love can transform the life of a person weighed down by struggles.
Even when we understand that lifting the weight of someone else’s load fulfills the law of Christ, Christians are frequently tempted to pass such responsibility to a pastor or Sunday school teacher. But the Lord intends something different for the lives of His children. Our unique experiences equip us to help in ways that the pastor or teacher—who have different experiences—cannot. Ask God how you can begin to help bear the burden of neighbors who are hurting.
Our heavenly Father is always faithful to keep His promises. We can be certain of this because He made them based upon His unchanging character and His Son Jesus Christ. (See Heb. 6:13-14.)
Many times over the years, I have been the beneficiary of God’s faithfulness to His Word. For example, Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” At age 12, I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Despite my lack of knowledge about all that was in the Bible, I recognized I was a sinner. Once I trusted the Lord to forgive my sins, He saved me, just as His Word said He would.
Around age 14, I began thinking about my future and wondering what direction it would take. On the basis of God’s promises, I believed He would speak to me and reveal His plans for my life (Ps. 16:11)
In time God made it clear that He wanted me to become a preacher, so I began putting money away for college. My source of income was a paper route, which meant my savings account grew by very small increments. When I looked at its balance, I didn’t see how I could ever afford to enroll.
The Lord then brought Proverbs 3:5-6 to life for me. He orchestrated a series of events that led to my receiving a full scholarship. If I had depended on my own thinking, I might have given up on my dream of college. But instead, I trusted in Him, and He provided what I needed to fulfill His plan.
Think about how God has worked in your life. What testimony could you give of His faithfulness to you?
Discouragement can rob peace, joy, and contentment. But I have great news if you feel disheartened: You need not be stuck!
I’ve known people who appeared to be in impossible situations. A few years later, however, they were in a terrific place, either in terms of their circumstances or their emotions. The reason? They never gave up. Instead of sulking in self-pity, they chose to believe God and step out in faith. In that way, they did not remain entrenched in an emotional pit.
Nehemiah is a good example. He had every reason to feel defeated, because his people were in trouble. After receiving news that the city wall had been destroyed, this man of God acknowledged profound disappointment and grieved. Yet doing so was risky, because sadness in the presence of royalty was punishable by death.
Though pain flooded his soul, Nehemiah didn’t allow himself to stay in that low place. Instead, he cried out to God for direction. And the Lord answered with amazing power, prompting the king to notice his servant’s sad countenance and then to ask what he could do to help. This miracle led to the rebuilding of the wall and the redemption of God’s people.
The Lord can take an impossible situation—no matter what it is—and move in ways mightier than you can imagine. Do you live in eager expectation of what the Lord will do? Or have you chosen to linger in the depths of despair? Like Nehemiah, turn your disappointment into a petition for God’s help. He can restore your hope and prevent negative emotions from gaining a stranglehold on your life.
