Abraham and Sarah
In Genesis 17:17 and 18:12-14, when God told 99 year old Abraham that his 90 year old wife Sarah would bear a son, both of them laughed and doubted it could it happen because of their advanced age, even though God said to them ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ Even people of great faith may have doubts.
Moses
In Exodus 3:10-15 and 4:1 -10, God told Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out from there, but again and again Moses doubted his ability to do so despite the repeated wonders God performed to convince him and despite God's promise to achieve this. In fact, I confess that when I first read this passage many years ago I grew a little impatient with Moses myself! But we all know the rest of the story don't we?
Israelites
Whenever they faced difficulties during their wanderings in the desert, they doubted God’s providence and grumbled, as in Exodus 16:1-3, but God provided manna for bread and quails for meat..
Gideon
In Judges 6: 14-23, God told Gideon that he would be a leader and judge, but Gideon doubted and put God to the test twice in 7:36-40.
Zechariah (Father of John the Baptist)
In Luke 1:12-19, the angel of the Lord told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth, though barren and past child-bearing age, would bear a son, he expressed doubts for which he lost the power of speech till the promise became a reality.
Thomas
In John 20:24-25, Thomas, one of the twelve disciples would not believe when the others told him of Christ's resurrection until he saw for himself the nail marks in Jesus' hand and put his finger in Jesus' side which had been pierced by the centurion's lance.
From time immemorial there have been thousands of great, good and saintly men who have had their ‘doubts’ but these are the lessons or morals I have tried to draw from them:
1) Doubts are legitimate. Jesus was not hard on Thomas for his doubts, for, despite his scepticism, Thomas was still loyal to the believers and to Jesus. Some people need to doubt before they believe. If doubt leads to questions, questions lead to answers and the answers are accepted then doubt has been fruitful. When doubt becomes stubbornness and this becomes a life style, then that doubt harms faith. When you doubt don't stop there. Let it deepen your faith as you continue your search for the answer with the help of the Holy Spirit.
2) It is easy to misunderstand or doubt what God wants to do in our lives. Even God's people sometimes make the mistake of trusting their own intellect or experience rather than God. When tempted to think that one of God's promises is impossible, remember his work throughout history. His power is not confined by narrow perspectives or human limitations. Trust him completely.
3) In Genesis 18:14, the Lord said to Abraham ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ The obvious answer is ‘Of course not’, so make it a habit to insert your specific needs into the question, ‘is this day in my life too hard for the Lord? Is this habit I am trying to break too hard for him?’ Asking the question this way reminds you that God is personally involved in your life and nudges you to ask for his power to help.
4) God responds to faith even in the midst of failures
5) God is not bound by what ‘usually’ happens. He can stretch the limits and cause unheard of things to occur.
David De Souza