Sometimes, it is so easy to doubt. It is a choice that we all succumb to now and then. We live in a world of instant gratification. We want something, and we want it right now. We get instant TV, instant entertainment, instant meals, instant shipping. We can order something today and have it later today or tomorrow, just as if we went to the store for it, but without all the bother of actually doing it. In all of this crazy mixed up world of instantness, we also have our own fears and doubts.
I think that Heavenly Father is not an instant God. He doesn't give us what we are praying for right this minute. He usually makes us exercise a little faith first. Think about waiting for baptism, waiting for the Priesthood, waiting to go to the temple. Waiting, constantly waiting.
I love the story of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego in the Old Testament. Three Hebrew men thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, when they refuse to bow down to the king's image; the three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the fourth ... like a son of God".
I love that God did not ask them to go through this alone. That He was there with them all through their trials. I love that it mattered to Him that they felt His love for them. Because they did not doubt, but instead embraced their belief, they were blessed to see God. They were blessed to come out of their trials stronger than before. They were blessed to bring change to the world around them.
There are times when we all doubt, when we fear, when we questions, when we don't know the answers to the problems. There are times when life is hard, when it is not fair, when their seems to be no justice or mercy or even love. But I have learned that doubting is a choice. I have learned that sometimes we have to wait for the answers to the questions. Sometimes those answers take even longer to come than we ever imagined.
In spite of the doubts, we can still find hope and belief and even joy. We can choose to embrace the good and let go of whatever it is that is holding us back.
We choose to embrace the light instead of the darkness.
We choose hope.
We choose belief.
We choose joy.
We choose Him.
