Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt by Roger Sapp Page A

in the New Testament between faith and doubt. This may seem obvious to many, but some do fail to see this important connection and fail to identify their own doubts. Because doubts are often very subtle, they are seldom identified initially as doubts. These subtle doubts are often built right into what we understand or misunderstand about God. It is a case of being too close to the trees to see the forest. If these subtle doubts remain unidentified and not dealt with, we will feel that healing ministry is inconsistent, unreliable and unpredictable. If we believe this, then be assured that our healing experiences would be exactly that… inconsistent, unreliable and unpredictable. Our healing experiences will certainly match our expectations. Our misunderstandings of healing will be validated by our malformed experience of healing as if what we believe is true. We may then embrace a doubting theology about healing that matches our less than New Testament experience. We may then become locked in a doubting cycle. Doubting theology creates failures in healing and in turn these failures reinforce the unidentified doubts. Because we have never seriously compared our experience and understanding with what Christ reveals in His experience of healing the sick and injured, we continue in this doubting cycle. If we don’t identify or deal with our doubts, we never get beyond a shadow of doubt in healing.
     
    It has been our experience that the majority of people have enough faith to be healed if they deal properly with their doubts. Subtle doubts often overshadow their very real faith. In many cases, we have been able to get people healed who previously were unable to receive healing by helping them identify their doubts and dispose of them. Often, we simply asked the question Why do you think that you are not being healed? The answer revealed subtle doubts that they had not identified. Sometimes they answered that maybe it wasn’t God’s will to heal them or His timing or that maybe God had a special purpose in them remaining ill. When they dealt with their doubts according to what Christ revealed in the New Testament, they were often immediately healed. They had genuine faith in Christ but doubt was still prohibiting them from being healed.
     
    Since Christ often taught on faith in the context of healing someone, this subject cannot be neglected if we are going to understand healing. The subject of doubt and its relationship to faith occurs in many New Testament passages revealing the supernatural power of God working in human lives. Some of these passages are not specifically addressing healing but reveal the relationship between faith and doubt. For example, in a passage where Peter has just walked supernaturally on water but began to sink as he saw the wind and the waves around him, Jesus says to Peter:
     
And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him (Peter), and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31

    It is apparent from this question from Christ to Peter that the reason that Peter was able to miraculously walk upon the water was because of his faith in Christ. It is also apparent that the reason that he began to sink was because he began to doubt. Clearly, Peter did not sink because it was God’s will for him to sink. Peter did not sink because it was God’s timing for him to sink. Peter did not sink because it was God’s mysterious purpose being worked out in his character. Peter walked on the water because he believed in Christ’s words to him to come. He sank because he doubted when he saw the wind and the waves. Peter didn’t sink because Christ had somehow changed His mind about him walking on water. God’s empowering of Peter to walk upon the water was dependent upon Peter’s faith in Christ and his resistance to doubting. Doubting overshadowed Peter’s faith and prevented the Father from doing what He was willing to do. Likewise, doubt often overshadows a