The Causes of Doubt -- John the Baptist and Mary

In the Bible, some individuals manifest doubt about Jesus Christ.

What causes doubt in the believer, and what causes us to doubt who Jesus is and what He can do in our lives?

First of all, doubt springs from more than "I don't know", but rather attempting to reconcile two things which are not true. Doubt, whose root word is based on the number "two", is founded on viewing two things, and not knowing which one is true and which one is false; or rather which one is current and acceptable, while the other should be rejected or discontinued.

Let us consider John the Baptist.

He was an eyewitness of the glory of God descending on Jesus when he baptized the Son of God.

He even heard God the Father say: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased."

Yet in Matthew 10, John sends his disciples to ascertain whether Jesus is the Christ, or if he should seek another.

Jesus responds with a scripture from Isaiah 35, which announces the miracles which the Messiah would accomplish.

Yet what caused John the Baptist to doubt?

He was in prison, and he was about to die. He did not  see Jesus as much as those free and moving about were seeing. More importantly, I submit that he was not evaluating Jesus based on the Word, as Jesus Himself introduced and revealed Himself to his disciples following His resurrection (Luke 24).

Then there's the example of Mary, who had a legitimate reason for doubting:

"34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1: 34)

How could she have a child, since she had never known a man? The issue of doubt in the face of God's promises originates with ourselves, in that we look at ourselves and see that we cannot accomplish in our strength what God wants to do in our lives.

With Jesus in us, our hope of glory (Colossians 1: 27), we no longer look at our own strength, but consider that He is working within us, both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2: 12-13).

Doubt emerges in our lives when we see God, and we see His strength, yet we vacillate on His grace and start wondering what our part will be, what we will do, or what we will have to do, since we have not yet growing enough in our faith, in how Great God is through His Son, to prepare, to promote, or to prosper us in His ways.