Don't Let Doubt Blockade Your Legacy of Faith

My four-year-old son was facing a $2,000 surgery. This was back in the days when we couldn't afford insurance and lived from paycheck to paycheck.I hesitated to call my dad about our need. As an attorney, he could afford to help us out, but he had drilled into me that once married, he expected me to pay all my own bills.Yet I knew that he loved me very, very much.

OK ... deep breath

I took a deep breath ... gave myself a pep talk ...and called Dad.After listening to our story about the lack of finances to cover the surgery, he firmly said, "I'll get a check off in the mail to you today, and don't worry about paying me back. I've got you covered."That was it. No lecture about money. No questions. Just a simple, firm reply.Dad eventually became friends with Jesus and encouraged us to phone he and mom with any kind of need. Yet he didn't enable us by rescuing us from hardship—he wanted us to see God work on our behalf.So his immediate response would always be, "Let's pray about it right now." And then he would pray.

And boy could Dad pray ...

He always ended prayer with, "I expect to hear good things."Sometimes Dad would even get in the car and drive an hour to my house to pray with us. He was a firm believer that God was going to answer our prayers. And God did.I learned that I could call Dad at any time and he would be there for me. He would pray and, when he could, he wanted to be a part of the answer to that prayer.And there were always good things to report.

Dad built a legacy of faith

The Lord reminded me of Dad this morning when I got a call from one of our kids requesting prayer.I remembered that now Tom and I are "Dad." We are the parents the kids automatically call when they need a miracle.But more important, I realized that Dad had never doubted that God would answer his prayers.

I used that memory to push my doubt aside

Memories are a powerful thing. I want to be like Dad. So I used the memory of Dad's prayers to examine my doubt.Then I pushed the doubt aside.I fervently prayed for the situation and thanked the Lord for His promises and faithfulness.And I expect to hear good things from my daughter tonight.So what do you think? Does doubt hinder your legacy of faith? Do you use powerful memories to push doubt aside?Have a great week and I catch you next Thursday, Susan"Jesus likes it when we share." -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody's brother, but you know ... all of your friends would be nice.