TEARING OUT DOUBT

Hermas (2nd Century) wrote, “Tear doubt out of your heart! Never allow doubt to hinder you from praying to God by perchance thinking to yourself, “How can I ask anything from the Lord, how can I receive anything from him since I have sinned so much against him?” Never think like this! Instead, turn to the Lord with your whole heart. Pray to him without wavering and you will come to know his great mercy. He will never desert you. He will fulfill your heart’s request because God is not like men, who harbor grudges. No, he does not remember evil, and he has compassion for what he has made.”

It is not easy to tear doubt out from our hearts and then put trust where there was a pocket, if not a pile, of doubt. Guilt and shame make sure of this. Climbing out of the pit of doubt is a steep climb. But what Hermas, the Bishop of Rome said in the second century is true: “he (God) does not remember evil, and he has compassion for what he has made.”

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus