You’ve Seen Too Much to Still Doubt
- Bishop Keith Butler
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. (Hebrews 3:8-10)
Regardless of how long you have followed God, you still have some growing to do. You can see miracles and still miss maturity. You can sit in church for twenty years and still be spiritually stunted—because your attendance doesn’t prove spiritual growth; your obedience after you leave does. Spiritual growth isn’t measured by the number of services you attend, the verses you know, or how long you’ve been a member. The fruit of Monday through Saturday reveals the root of Sunday.
You can be in a Word of Faith pew with a heart full of doubt. You can quote confessions and still question God’s will for your life.
The writer of Hebrews 3 referred to the Israelites who saw the plagues, walked through the Red Sea, watched Pharaoh’s army drown, ate miracle manna from the sky, and followed God by fire during the night and cloud by day.
While witnessing God's great power, they still doubted. They still said, “We can’t do this thing God told us to. The problems are too great. The giants are too big. The walls are too thick.”This is the tragedy in the verse—they were almost there! They were only one step from the promise, one act of obedience from the life they had dreamed of. But they hardened their hearts, provoked God, and disqualified themselves through their unbelief.
Practical Application
Be honest with yourself today—have you been tempted to stop growing? Have you found yourself more emotionally reactive than responding by saying what the Word says? If so, this is your call to growth, to step out of what is comfortable. Reflect on what God has brought you through, repent for any areas where you’ve hardened your heart, and recommit to obedience, especially when it’s inconvenient.
