by Julie Zine Coleman @JulieZColeman

From the outside, my friend Peter seemed to have it all together. He was a bright, gifted young man, who became a Christian during his college years. Immediately he began to study and grow, soon discovering he had an incredible gift for teaching. After graduation, Peter spent his first two post-college years in full time work for the Lord, teaching Scripture and mentoring students at several local colleges and universities.

Yet as he progressed in his ministry, Peter began to be plagued with doubts. He may have been a dynamic teacher on the outside, but on the inside, he was a mass of conflict. So much of what he preached was coming back empty for him on an emotional level. He began to doubt about even the existence of God. Finally, one evening, after much inner turmoil, he decided he could not live with the doubt any longer. He would abandon his faith for good.

A half-hour later, there was a knock on his door. A young college co-ed stood outside with tears in her eyes. As she entered, she explained that she had serious doubts about the existence of God. “I want to believe,” she told Peter. “Please help me.”

Peter stood in his doorway, uncertain of his response. He knew exactly what this girl was experiencing, since his own struggle had come to a head just that evening. Yet at the same time, he knew what Jesus said about teachers who lead followers astray. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6 NASB). Peter knew while he might no longer believe, he did not want to be responsible for another’s spiritual demise.

So he sat down and shared with her from God’s Word. They looked at the five hundred witnesses who saw the resurrected Christ. In Matthew, they saw how over one hundred prophecies written hundreds of years before Christ’s birth were fulfilled during His lifetime. Too much evidence was contained in Scripture to be denied. It just didn’t make sense NOT to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

As Peter saw his young friend out the door, he knew he had just talked himself back into believing. Interestingly, by teaching the truths he already knew, they became even more compelling for him. There is a power that comes in expressing our faith to others.

Paul tells the Ephesians to live yielded to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-21). He urges them to make verbal expressions of their faith: speaking to one another in psalms, singing hymns and spiritual songs, along with giving thanks for all things. When shared with others, gratitude benefits the one speaking as well as the recipient.

There is a lot about the writing business that can breed discouragement. We felt called by God to start this thing…why are we still languishing in the void of failure in our attempts to get our message published? Did we get it wrong? Has God changed His mind? Does He even care?

The remedy for a season of doubt in God’s goodness is simple. Express gratitude in our writing. Remember Who it is we serve: a God who is faithful, who does not leave us to our own devices, Who is working in us every time we sit down at the computer to write. Our readers need to hear that truth, because we all live in a dark world that desperately needs light.

But they are not the only ones who need it articulated. An interesting thing happens when we write about gratitude and trust. As the words fly off our fingertips, what they proclaim actually becomes real to us in a new way. It’s not just the readers who will be encouraged to trust a God who is always at work. You will, too.

Julie Zine Coleman is an award-winning author, speaker, and member of the Pastoral Team at New Hope Chapel. She is the managing editor for the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association’s devotional website, Arise Daily. Julie holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies and has authored four books including Unexpected Love: God’s Heart Revealed through Jesus’ Conversations with Women and On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women through Scripture, which was named The Golden Scrolls Book of the Year as well as The Selah Awards’ Director’s Choice. Julie and her husband have four grown children, six grandchildren, and one crazy Golden Retriever puppy.