Overcoming the doubts that never end

There were all kinds of doubts.  More doubts than I really want to remember.  But God kept moving.  Doors kept miraculously opening.  I prayed for someone who could come and help us.  In fact I prayed specifically for a young couple without kids, who had ties to the area, who could raise their own support, and whose wife could work so that they would have some stability because I knew CITYChurch would not be able to pay anyone.  And along came Derek and Mallory, a young couple with no kids.  Derek had grown up in Winston and has family here.  They were able to raise their own support and Mallory got a teaching job in Forsyth County during a hiring freeze.  I think God was in that.

I could give many other examples.  Crazy stuff kept happening.

CITYChurch has never had an abundance of anything.  Our budget has said that we will run out of money in six months for the past 18 months.  But God continues to provide.  And there are still doubts.  Maybe there are more doubts.  At the very least there are different doubts.

I find great comfort in the passage where Jesus told his followers not to worry, that if we follow Him, our life will be stress free and easy.  Do you remember that verse?  It's in... well, um. It's not actually in the Bible.  In fact Jesus said the world will hate you.  Following Jesus was often compared to a war.  He said the path to Heaven is narrow, hard to follow, and difficult.

Maybe we talk too much about how difficult the journey is at CITYChurch.  Maybe we don't talk enough about the joy that comes with the difficulty.

Doubt is powerful when we don't have answers.  We can easily start to think maybe this doubt is legit.  The reality is that we don't have all the answers at CITYChurch.  I wish we did.  But joy overcomes our doubts if we truly believe that God has those answers.  If we truly believe, which I do with all my heart, that CITYChurch is God's idea then we can stand in front of those doubts and smile.  Maybe even laugh.  Because I don't know how those doubts will be overcome, but I know that they will.  The Kingdom of God is invincible.  And CITYChurch is part of that Kingdom.  I am part of that Kingdom.  Are you?