Doubt is something that we all experience from time to time. There is perhaps no greater threat to peace than doubt. When we have doubt, we feel like life is hopeless and dreary. God doesn’t want doubt to take up residence in our hearts. Think of doubt as a little snowball. When it is sitting still it is harmless. Oh, you notice it, but it does no harm. If we allow the doubt inside of us to grow, the snowball grows. Our doubt becomes bigger and bigger. Pretty soon that little snowball has turned into an avalanche destroying everything in its path.

Doubt breeds doubt, and we all know people who walk around with doubt in their hearts. They are hopeless, and they cannot believe in anything. This life is sometimes hard enough when our faith is strong, but if you do not have faith or believe in something greater than yourself, then you cannot face the everyday trials that we all experience. It is like Santa Claus said in the film Miracle on 34th Street, “If you can’t believe, if you can’t accept anything on faith, then you’re doomed for a life dominated by doubt.” Those are simple words from a simple movie, but their power is enormous. It really is true too. If we cannot accept things on faith, the love, peace, and joy that is meant to fill our lives will never come our way.

How can we prevent doubt from stealing our peace? That is an age-old question that man has been asking for centuries. Our world has become so smart, and science has been able to explain so many things away, but we still need to have faith. You cannot see a sunrise or set and not believe in something greater than yourself. You cannot see the geese fly south for the winter and not believe in the power of faith. There are so many things that we accept on faith. Most of these things we take for granted and do not give them the weight that they deserve, but when we just stop and think about it life is full of signs of God’s presence and omnipotence.

So, the next time you feel the seed of doubt being planted in your heart, focus on the many miracles that you have witnessed. Focus on all the things that you have faith in. Allow yourself to become full of hope for the future. Because, you see, hope, love, and joy begin to melt that little snowball, and pretty soon it is just a puddle of water. The thing that we have to try very hard to do in this life is to never give up. We can never allow doubt to overcome the love and peace that has been promised to everyone of us. Lean on God, yourself, and the people that you hold dear when you experience feelings of doubt or just sit back and enjoy watching the sunrise and remember that every single day that we are on this earth is a miracle. Every single day you wake up is a gift. Faith and hope will always outweigh doubt and fear, and faith and hope will bring us peace and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~