Being Honest With Our Doubt

Reflections for this date are based on the following scripture passages:

Matthew 14

When Jesus came walking on the water to His disciples who were perilously caught in a storm in a small boat, Peter boldly stepped out of the boat to join Jesus on the water. But then he took his eyes off Jesus, focusing instead on the enormity of the storm and becoming overcome with fear and doubt causing him to begin sinking. Jesus said to him and the other disciples, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Indeed, why do we doubt? Was Jesus admonishing the disciples as we often assume, or was He raising an important question for them to ponder? Is doubt bad or can it have a positive affect? Is it a sin or not?
I lean on the side of doubt having potential beneficial results. There are times, in fact, when we should doubt. It is not that God warrants our doubt but that our assumptions concerning God can warrant it. To pursue that thought further, let's consider Peter's assumptions when he stepped from the boat. He had witnessed Jesus' power in a number of instances, witnessing that very day the miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with only five loaves and two fish. He was also witnessing Jesus at that very moment walking to him on the water. He would be accurate in his belief that Jesus not only had power to walk on water Himself, but to also enable Peter to walk on it.

Was it Jesus' ability to enable him to walk on water that Peter doubted or did he doubt that Jesus was willing to enable him? Given Jesus' statement to him and Jesus' demonstration of calming the storm after He got in the boat, we might conclude that Peter doubted Jesus' power. But neither should Peter assume or should we assume Jesus' willingness to exercise His power on our behalf without conferring with Him. This is where I struggle the most with doubt. Does Jesus want to exercise His power at my request?

Either way, whether it is doubt of Jesus' ability or doubt of His willingness, doubt can be a point of growth if we do not camp out in it, remaining in doubt indefinitely. We should go to God with our doubt and allow Him to correct us and teach us and get through the doubt, doing it right away and hitting it head on. It is important to resolve our doubt as soon as possible for while in doubt we are also susceptible to Satan's attack with additional doubts.

We need to hold to our faith while examining our doubts, keeping our eyes on Jesus rather than the source of our doubt.