I’m a desert girl who once drove solo through one of the worst blizzards in Denver history. 

This may or may not have involved a wrong turn, some serious panic, and a fair amount of pleading with God.

Ironically, I was airport-bound to fly home to sunny Arizona. 

For those of you who know how to drive in the snow, props to you, because my experience with it has been – well, interesting.

And that blizzard?  Let’s just say that I later learned that the thump-thump of anti-lock brakes does not mean they are broken, and that panicking while driving down a blizzardy freeway just makes the experience more terrifying. 

What I remember most about that drive was my fear, and the wondering if God would actually pull me through it.  

Because, to be honest, I wasn’t so sure. 

It’s not uncommon for us to have such a response in a fearful situation. 

Or a desperate situation. 

Or when facing circumstances that seem to have no end – when we wonder if God will ever show up and finally let us see a light at the end of our tunnel.

The Biblical definition of this kind of thinking: DOUBT.

The book of Mark illustrates this well in the story of a desperate man with a demon-possessed child.  It reads like this.  Mark 9:20-23 –

So they brought the boy [to Jesus]. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

IF HE CAN?  Not really a statement one should make to Jesus. 

But I guarantee that each of us, at one time or another, has approached God in this very same way.

Maybe not with an actual if you can.  But with that same measure of doubt. 

Then Jesus responded to this desperate dad.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

And there it is, in big bold Bible text.  Our “If you can’s” stem from unbelief.

The definition of unbelief?  The absence of faith. 

Otherwise known as doubt.

The truth of it is, we know God is capable of doing anything.  But we sometimes doubt whether he will do it for us.

But remember what Jesus said to the unbelieving dad:  Anything is possible.

For you, and you, and YOU.

And that’s not all Jesus had to say about faith.  Just two chapters later, we read this.  Mark 11:22-23:

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.”

Believe, don’t doubt, anything is possible.  Six short words we need to fix in our minds.

But to truly stand in this kind of faith requires a radical shift in our thinking.  Because our world doesn’t think this way, and our flesh isn’t prone to either. 

Romans 12:2 tells us how to get there.  Best stated in the NLT version, this scripture brings both instruction and hope for us all [text in brackets is mine].

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world [which is full of doubt], but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

SO… IF we choose to live counter to the world, and IF we submit ourselves to God, we are being offered a transformation. 

God promises that we can become NEW people, literally changing the way we think! 

You can bet that one of the first things he’ll tackle in those new, changed minds, is the chasing down of doubt.  Then he’ll teach us to trust him first, so we can build up our faith. 

And THEN, he says, we will know God’s will, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

That settled, peaceful, heart is what we should all be running after.

I wish the fearful girl on that blizzardy freeway could have slowed down and focused on this.  Clearly, she needed a little more transformation.

I’m grateful that despite my occasional unbelief, I serve a God who is bigger than my fears, bigger than my doubts, and both willing and able to change me. 

And that, even though he doesn’t want me to court doubt and fear, he knows sometimes I will.

But I also know I can overcome my doubts through Christ.  And you can too.

Because on those blizzardy days when we feel we can’t, we serve a God who CAN.

He Says:

Daughter, remember that to trust me in all things is key. Never be tossed about by the difficulties of a situation. You must look far beyond, into my possibilities. The seemingly difficult is no hindrance for me.  There is no obstacle I cannot scale over; no adversary I cannot defeat.  I am able to accomplish anything I desire for you.  Trust me with each situation and know that my hand is always upon you, every moment of every day.  Don’t give way to fear, don’t force your way, don’t shrink back.  Just trust ME.  Let me do it, and believe that I can.

“He Says” passages are excerpts taken from my personal prayer journal.  These are things God has spoken to me directly, and my prayer is that he will use them to speak to you.