Can Christians doubt?

This term at youth group I'm answering a bunch of questions that the teens chose. The condition is that i need to do it in 5 minutes (not an easy assignment when i dealt with the existence of God last week!).

This week the question dealt with doubt.

I think this question is raised because we misunderstand what faith is and, more importantly, what it is not.

We are tricked into thinking that the opposite of faith is doubt. It isn't. The opposite of faith is certainty. With absolute certainty you have no need for faith.

As a Christian, you have faith in and look forward to the unseen. This leaves room for doubt.

And the bible deals with doubt. Through the way God deals with Job and the Disciple Thomas, we catch a glimpse of how we can deal with our doubts.

God's answer to Job is a simple one that we must keep in mind when we have doubt. God is God, we are not. He has all the answers, we do not. God knows what He is doing and we need to trust that this is actually the case. Despite our doubts.

Secondly, when Thomas raises his doubt over the resurrection of Christ, he is answered by Jesus. I think the response Jesus gave is important to remember. Jesus didn't slam Thomas for his doubt. He didn't chew him out. He answered his doubt.

God does that.

He provides answers to our questions.

Sometimes we just need to search for them. Ask God to reveal the answer to you. Pray (and listen!). Read the bible. Trawl the web (with discerning caution). Ask older, wiser Christians.

Our questions have been asked and answered in the past. No matter how smart we think we may be, we aren't so bright that we can pose an absolutely original problem.

Our doubts give us two options. We can use them as an inspiration and an opportunity to grow or we can use them as an excuse to shy away from God and His people.