SOAR – Four Ways to Rise Above Doubts

Legend has it that when John Lennon was in kindergarten, his teacher asked the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Each kid stood up and voiced their dreams. “I want to be a doctor!”  “I want to be a teacher!”  “I want to be an engineer!” “I want to be a firefighter!”

When it came to John Lennon’s turn, he said, “I want to be happy!”  The teacher said, “John, that’s not my question. What do you want to BE when you grow up?” Lennon said, “I want to BE happy!”

“John, you don’t understand my question,” the teacher said disappointingly, but Lennon replied, “Yes, I do, but YOU just don’t understand my ANSWER.” (End quote).

One important thing we need to learn from children is their confidence and lack of doubt. Doubt is a big killjoy and takes away our sense of humor and creativity. Doubt also hinders our potential. The Bible says,

“For the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:7-8).

See, that’s serious! Doubt can deny us our wishes from God. Doubt is not unbelief but between belief and unbelief. That’s why James said they are double-minded and unstable, wasting mental energy on ambivalence. Jesus wants us to pray with faith, not with doubt.

Children are happier because they don’t have doubt, but as we grow older, after encountering disappointments, setbacks, and tragedies, we begin to doubt the possibility of the pursuit of happiness. I wonder how many people have developed crippling doubt after the prolonged pandemic.

Now and then, you hear people say, “You cannot pursue happiness. Chasing happiness is vanity.” I was curious about why they came up with such a conclusion. Our national motto includes the God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, distinguishing us from the rest of the world.

After some research, I discovered that those who discourage you from pursuing happiness are mostly unhappy. Misery loves company, so they don’t want you to have what they don’t have. They cast doubt on you, putting a stumbling block on your pursuit of happiness. Ignore them.

The Scriptures reveal that God wants you to be happy. Over and over again, the Bible says, “Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice.” Christianity is the only religion that sings at the funeral. Nowadays, some other religions try to copy us, but they are just copies.

When our children are unhappy, we parents feel like a failure. It’s the same with our heavenly Father. Jesus came to rescue us from this sea of suffering to the place of true happiness called heaven. He also teaches us how to live in heaven on earth. Jesus said,

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”  (John 15:11). 

Jesus has joy despite persecution and wants us to have the same joy to the fullest.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent, and we light the candle of joy and sing “Joy to the Word.” If you want to live with joy, you must eliminate doubt. Maybe that’s why Jesus wants us to be like children to enter the kingdom because they don’t have doubts but are full of joy.

We doubt when tragedy strikes or when we hit a setback. When he was in prison, John the Baptist began to doubt whether Jesus was the Messiah at all. That was a big deal because you would expect, out of all people, John must be the last one to doubt Jesus’ identity.

The good news is, based on Jesus’ answer to John’s doubt, we can discover four ways to overcome doubts. So, let’s begin!