I love Mary’s humble and honest doubt. If she hadn’t offered up her question to Gabriel, you and I would never have gotten the benefit of Gabriel’s response: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). One of the greatest, faith-building statements in all of Scripture—and it comes because Mary asks the doubting question. Your doubt may be uncomfortable, but if you’re honest about it, God may not only bless you with an answer; he may also use that doubt to bless others after you.
We all have doubts. We wonder why the world looks the way it does. We wonder why God would allow some of the terrible parts of our own lives. I’m not saying you should stop doubting. I’m saying you should doubt humbly. Are you willing to doubt your doubts? Or are they so firmly fixed in your mind that you’ve closed your mind to a God who might contradict them?
The problem is never the specific doubts. God is big enough for every doubt and every question we have. The problem is the proud and self-centered heart behind the doubts. So if you find yourself doubting, be willing to doubt with faith. Faith isn’t the opposite of doubt any more than unbelief is a synonym of doubt. Faith and unbelief have to do with the posture of your heart behind those doubts.
Charles Spurgeon said that doubt is a foot poised to go forward or backward in faith. We can never go forward without first picking up the foot. So stare into your doubts. But then look into the face of God, realize his power and grasp the greatness of his love. And ask your questions. Leave room for a God whose power and wisdom are far above your own and search the Scriptures to see what his answer might be. Humble doubts lead to deep faith.
