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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 13, 2010
“Drive the Dark of Doubt Away”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
His girlfriend wasn’t faithful.
He had landed the prettiest fish, and with her came the agony of unfaithfulness.
He finally let her go (though she was already going) but now what?
Now he resolved to find someone faithful. He wanted a young woman of whom he had no doubts. And he found one. And they were married. And they lived happily ever after.
“But there was that one day,” he said.
One day it suddenly occurred to him that she might have taken a “shine” to a friend of theirs. As he pieced together the evidence in his mind, he felt the foundation washing out from beneath him.
His strong foundation had been his unwavering belief in her faithfulness, but now there was doubt. Scenarios played out in his head. Was he a fool? Were they sneaking around behind his back?
“It was the worst couple of days of my life,” he said.
He was in anguish – until he found there was nothing to it. She was faithful. He had just blown things out of proportion until it drove him crazy.
Up until that time, he had complete faith in his wife; but for a couple of days he let doubt creep in and it almost crushed him.
Doubt has a way of doing that. Doubt is a poison that kills hope, a darkness that eclipses the sun.
Have you ever felt that doubt toward God?
The disciples sure did. After Jesus died they were rocked by doubt. Even though Jesus told them He would rise from the dead, they doubted. When witnesses said he had risen from the dead, they doubted – His own disciples! The ones who saw all the miracles!
In Mark 16 we find the disciples hunkered down and depressed, then Jesus appeared, and the King James says He “upbraided them” for their unbelief.
For some reason I picture a Viking sitting there with long braided blonde hair, and the leader walks over and yanks his braid up.
He “upbraided” them. It means He rebuked them. There were sitting there, wallowing in their doubt and unbelief, and Jesus upbraided them for it.
Luke 24 records Jesus asking them this: “…why do doubts rise in your minds?”
Can you answer that question for yourself? Why do doubts rise in your mind?
“Because I expected something and it didn’t happen. Because God didn’t come through. Because God allowed something He never should have allowed.”
Those are all good reasons to doubt, I suppose, but actually, Jesus makes it sound like there is no good reason to doubt God.
In fact, listen to this little twist. In Mark 6, Jesus encountered some people, and it says “He marveled because of their unbelief.”
We marvel at people with no doubts, but Jesus marveled at people who had doubts.
Remember when Peter walked on the water, but then started sinking? Jesus reached out and caught him, then said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Of course he doubted, because it’s impossible to walk on water! Yet while he had faith, he could do it.
See how that works? Our doubt influences the outcome. Peter couldn’t say, “See, I knew it was impossible.”
Here’s how it works sometimes. It’s not that our doubt confirms the circumstances. It’s that our doubt affects the circumstances.
For example, Matthew 13:58 says that, in one place, Jesus did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
In Matthew 17 Jesus blamed some of the disciples’ lack of power on their unbelief. Then He said “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
That’s a grand statement, but I believe it. It’s the power of faith when it is unclouded by doubt.
You may call your doubt a “healthy skepticism” or “just being realistic,” but remember, doubt can affect the outcome. Many things are not a foregone conclusion, but actually hinge on our faith or our doubt.
James 1:6 says “when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
In Matthew 21 Jesus said “…have faith and do not doubt…”
Abraham set the bar for us. Romans 4:20 says, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith…”
If your faith feels weak today, then pray like the man in Mark 9:24 who said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Doubt is a poison, it’s a darkness that eclipses the light of God in your life.
So pray for more faith. Pray for God to remove your doubt.
Pray this favorite line of mine from the hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” that goes like this.
“Drive the dark of doubt away.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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