The story is told of Lord Halifax, a former foreign secretary of Great Britain. Once he shared a railway compartment with two prim-looking spinsters. A few moments before reaching his destination the train passed through a tunnel. In the utter darkness Halifax kissed the back of his hand noisily several times. When the train drew into the station, he rose, lifted his hat, and in a gentlemanly way said: “May I thank whichever one of you two ladies I am indebted to for the charming incident in the tunnel.” He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving the two ladies glaring at each other. Nothing like stirring up a little dust of doubt.
In the same way, all Satan has to do is make a little suggestive noise in our presence and our doubt takes off like a rocket. Our human nature craves a reason to side-step a responsibility. Our nature is always looking for a good excuse to quit. Satan just obliges us with some decent options. This is the way of our natural selves. Praise the Lord, He has given us of His Spirit, and therefore a new nature has sprung within us. Jesus remarked on this in the Garden of Gethsemane when His disciples were to be praying with Him. They obviously fell asleep, and Jesus replied— “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26.41). We have a new ‘want-to’. We desire in our spirit to please the One who bought us and loves us. This in no way removes the power-drag of the flesh, our first natural self. It can be like an anchor on our desire to follow Christ. See Romans 8 for a detailed breakdown on how this works. This is a recipe for doubt.
Some are plagued with constant doubt today, others just in certain circumstances. Jesus’ own disciples doubted. Not once, not twice, but alot! Their doubt should have been taken care of after some encounters with their risen Lord, wouldn’t you think? Not so much. In fact, when He called them to a mountain apart from the others to give them the Commission, the scripture says— “And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted” (Matthew 28.17). Can you believe it?! They still had doubts! I would think seeing Him appear in a room, walk through walls, show you His hands and sides, and speak with you, would do it. Goes to show, we have a strong human nature. May I also include that our spirit is more powerful? Yes it is, it is empowered by the supernatural Holy Spirit of God. We have the power to overcome the doubts within us, by Him.
That means we have No Exception. Mark 16.15 clearly states— “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Every one of them. No exceptions. Our doubts are the only thing stopping this from happening. In the commission itself it says— “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Matthew 28.19). No exceptions. In Luke 24.47 it says— “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations…” There is no room for doubt here. He said, everyone, everywhere. This is essential to understand. Our doubts can cost eternal souls. Doubts like— God could never use me, ‘I’m not worthy’, ‘I don’t know what to do or say’, are not good enough exceptions. ‘You don’t know what I’ve done’, is not a good enough exception. You doubting yourself is natural and sometimes the best thing you can do. Why? Because our strength is in the Lord, and not in ourselves. Remember, our flesh is our anchor, holding us back. We need to depend on His strength to fulfill His commands. The only real exceptions are in our heart. We exempt ourselves by our own unbelief.
Therefore, there are No Excuses. In Acts 28.31 the scripture says— “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” This is the life of the Apostle Paul. Amazing to think, no one stopped Him from fulfilling God’s will for His life. Even in death, he still speaks in the volumes of the New Testament. This verse is the very last verse in the book of Acts. What a great way to end. You see, the only excuses are on our lips and in our actions. Paul didn’t doubt God’s provisions, His abilities, nor His goodness. He was a focused man. Not on the mission, but on the Lord of the mission. We are without excuse. We must obey, but not in the flesh. We must follow, but not in the nature that cripples us with doubts. We must do as Paul exampled… live in the power of the Spirit of God and not in our own power.
We are powerless against the enemy if we doubt God’s call, commission, and commanding presence in the fight. Our God’s plan is as perfect as He is perfect. That plan is that every single soul hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot afford to doubt. Better said— they cannot afford for us to doubt!
“Whom we preach warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” (Colossians 1.28)