Luther on Doubt

Genesis 42:1-2

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you keep looking at one another? I have heard’, he said, ‘that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.’

Welcome back from Easter and Holy Week, we continue our studies of Luther's writings. Luther wrote, "why do you think Jacob told his sons to go and buy grain for us so that we do not starve. Let me trust God's promise to protect and take care of his family, why was he afraid of dying when up to that point he'd experienced only God's health and guidance? God protected him, his entire family, and all of his servants he led to the foreign country of Canaan. Why did he stop trusting God's promises when they were still fresh in his mind? It always taught his children about God, he asked them where was their faith, where is the promise? Here's how I reply to these questions, God orders us to believe and trust in his goodness, but at the same time we should never test him. I must take advantage of opportunities God gives us. If we don't, we aren't living according to his will. At the same time, we must continue to maintain our faith and our help in god. That's why Jacob did not say, just stay here and wait. The Lord can make food fall from the sky if you wanted to. Maybe that's the way he'll choose to feed us. Nope, that is not what God's promises are about."
Just today in our pastor's Bible study we were talking about this as we reflected upon the story of Doubting Thomas. Is Thomas put before us as an example of what not to be, think, or do? The truth is all of us doubt at one time or another, especially when we are getting a raw deal from God, especially when we have to deal with bad news, or difficult times. But there's a big difference between having doubt, and not trusting in God's goodness. When Jesus finally returns and encounters Thomas in the upper room one week after Easter, his words to him in the Greek translate, stop doubting!! That's right, Jesus commands Thomas to stop doubting. Perhaps it's because testing God is the product of a lack of faith. Doubting God comes as part and parcel of being human and living in this world. It is one thing to wonder if God is around when you get bad news about your health, or watch the news about the world, or somebody you know or love receives bad news about their life expectancy... But to ask God to find you a better parking spot at the mall, or make your retirement account grow faster, or for your favorite sports team to win the championship, shows a lack of faith. Thomas' doubts are well founded, and easy to understand. After all, none of us have ever seen a resurrected one before! Thomas had a long relationship with Jesus, he had even agreed to accompany him back to Jerusalem to see Lazarus knowing it could mean his own death! We also need to cultivate our relationship with Jesus, because faith is not the absence of doubt, it is the presence of a risen lord! As you can see from our Old Testament lesson above, this idea of testing God and living in relationship with Him is hardly new . Our job is not to test God's goodness, but recognize it when it comes, rejoice in it, even witness to it!