Mercy Amidst Doubt (Jude 22)

And have mercy on those who doubt…
– Jude 22

That’s it. That’s the verse. Now, Jude goes on to write more, but I want us to just soak in this short phrase—this short exhortation, this command from God—for us to have mercy on those who doubt.

What a great word, because we all have doubts. Let’s just put this out there: there’s no one who is immune to struggle in faith.

I think about a great quote from Alister McGrath, a man with a brilliant mind who debates all kinds of non-Christians about the truth of Christianity. And he once wrote that doubt is natural within faith. It comes because of our human weakness and frailty. And then he contrasts doubt with unbelief. He says unbelief is the decision to live your life as if there is no God. It’s a deliberate decision to reject Jesus Christ and all that he stands for. But doubt is something quite different. Doubt arises within the context of faith. It’s a wistful longing to be sure of the things in which we trust.

And I think we’re all familiar with that. John MacArthur once said that when the New Testament talks about doubt—whether you’re talking about the Gospels or the Epistles—it primarily focuses on believers. He says that’s very important: it’s as if you have to believe something before you can doubt it. You have to be committed to it before you can begin to question it. So doubt is held up as the unique problem of the believer.

And so I just want to, one, encourage you: if you have doubts, you are not alone. If you have questions—if you wonder sometimes about this or that—that’s not abnormal.

Now, what do we do with those doubts? We press into them, and we pursue truth.

And this is where God’s Word here in Jude is so good: “Have mercy on those who doubt.” Aren’t you glad God has mercy on you in your doubting? And here we are—sinful, fallen people, creatures. We doubt our Creator. We doubt his love for us. We doubt whether he’s even there. We doubt his Word. And yet he has mercy on us.

So let’s show that same mercy to others in their doubting. Let’s walk with others through periods of doubt—through questions, through searching—with mercy, with grace, with patience, all in pursuit of truth, confident that God is big enough to handle our questions and God is merciful to those who doubt.

God, we praise you for your mercy toward us. I praise you for your mercy in my life—in a fresh way right now. God, I think about all the times I have doubted, struggled in faith—not because you are unfaithful (you are perfectly faithful), but I wrestle with faith in my finite mind. I don’t understand this or that. I want to understand everything.

God, I praise you for your mercy in my doubting. And I praise you for that reality in all of our lives.

And so we pray, God, that you’d help us to show mercy to those who doubt—to walk with each other in pursuit of truth and to lead one another to trust in you. Just like Jude goes on to say in the very next verse about snatching people out of the fire and helping lead them to salvation—God, we know that’s only possible through mercy, through grace, through patience, through a journey of walking together. Help us to walk that journey with mercy toward others.

God, we pray that as people around us who don’t know you have questions, you would help us to be understanding listeners and friends alongside them, pointing them to truth.

A Prayer for the Mahesri Bania People

And God, we pray for this around the world. God, we pray specifically today for the Mahesri Bania people of India—for 370,000 Hindu men, women, and children among the Mahesri Bania people.

God, we pray that they would come to know you, Jesus, as the way and the truth and the life. God, raise up laborers—workers, brothers and sisters in Christ—to go with mercy to the Mahesri Bania people, to lead them to faith in you, to joy in you, to peace in you, to eternal life in you.

We pray all this according to your Word in Jude 22—to you, the God who shows mercy to us in our doubting. Amen.