Defeating Doubt has a double meaning doesn't it? Doubt can defeat us--defeating doubt, or we can defeat it. We are defeating doubt. And it certainly works both ways.
I recently pitched a novel to an agent who swiftly pitched the novel back into my lap. He wasn't wrong. When he saw the holes in my work, I saw them too.
Ugh.
Hours upon hours of work, and I envisioned hours upon hours upon hours more. Replotting. Redefining characters. Rebuilding settings. Re-re-re-re-rewriting.
Rethinking. . .
What am I doing?
Should I be doing this? Writing?
Am I wasting my time?
Is anyone going to read my stuff? Is that all it is?
That night dealt little sleep and a flood of restless thoughts and doubts.
The next morning, I opened the verse of the day. After reading those few words, I felt peace and resolve and wrote these words.
Whispers of Doubt
Doubt prods with feelings more than words. Like a quiet anonymous voice behind the curtain.
Pay no attention to that voice behind the curtain.
Pay no attention to the pebble in your shoe.
But that jagged fleck of stone digs into my soul as doubts run and walk and pause and dwell within.
You don’t belong here.
You don’t belong here.
You don’t belong here.
You don’t belong.
My mind cannot rest for the relentless buzzing of doubt like tiny mosquitoes in my ear.
When I finally surrender and open my eyes, I open the verse of the day and read, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
The ancient words of the prophet Isaiah do not shout. They do not buzz or repeat. They rest in my soul and fill this drained vessel.
No room for doubt.
God himself, in me, whispers without words and I hear his heart.
You belong.
Doubt is silent.
Doubt will try again, no doubt screaming, but the powerful whisper of God will fill me again and again.
You belong.
I hope these words help you defeat doubt. I hope they bring you calm and peace and the understanding that you belong.
For more follow this link and listen to Episode 121 - Isaiah 26.
