The Pandemic of Doubting God

By Rob Pue

February 5, 2023

Worry. Anxiety. Depression. These disorders have reached pandemic proportions — afflicting people from all walks of life, worldwide. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, here in America, more than one in three adults (37%) suffer from depression or some form of major anxiety disorder. It was recently reported that among Gen Z young people, that number rises to nearly 60%.

For those afflicted, there’s no shortage of fuel for our worry and anxiety. Today we face job losses and record unemployment, even in the midst of hyper-inflation. People — especially men and heads of households — worry about paying the bills, keeping food on the table and heating their homes. Our so-called “government leaders” have deliberately orchestrated crisis after crisis for American citizens as a means of control. Real people are being seriously hurt by their actions, yet they’re never held accountable.

Faced with these threats, many are ready to give up their freedoms in exchange for Big Brother’s promise to make it all better. Yet we know that big government and socialism isn’t really the answer — and so we worry more — if not for ourselves, for our children and grandchildren.

The truth is, the world has always been in turmoil, ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. I wonder what people worried about a thousand years ago — or two thousand years ago — or five thousand years ago. Surely they all had worries of their own. Our parents had worries. Our grandparents had worries. And today, we carry on the tradition, but we’ve amped it up a bit.

I don’t mean to make light of the situation, because anxiety disorders are real. Those who suffer these maladies can’t help themselves. Sufferers often know their emotions are out of control, their feelings are unreasonable, their worries are largely unfounded. Yet they can’t seem to pull out of it. It becomes a downward spiral, often into deep depression, or to the point where they can no longer function normally.

So they turn to pharmakea — prescription medications — in a futile effort to feel “normal” again. But with many of these pills, the number one side effect is the very thing it’s supposed to suppress: depression. For some of these so-called “medications,” a major side effect is “suicidal thoughts or tendencies.” The poisons in these drugs aren’t the answer, friends.

God’s Word tells us 365 times (once for each day of the year) to “Fear Not.” Fear not. Jesus Himself spent a lot of time teaching on this subject. In Luke 12, He said, “…Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds?”

He went on to ask the question, “Can any of you add a single cubit to his height (or one moment to his life span) by worrying? If then, you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?”

Then He said, “Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Indeed, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You know, most of the things we worry so much about never happen. In our world today, there are predictions of catastrophe coming at us from every direction. Threats of more global tyranny; a total disruption of our food supplies; a ‘Great Reset’ of our financial system and everything else; a looming invasion and threats of war. And our country has never before been as sick, perverted and Godless as it is today. I dare say things have never looked worse for the future of America.

The things that are predicted may or may not happen. Granted, the Globalists are not giving up, they’re digging in deeper to enslave the whole planet. Those are their plans and they have little to no opposition. It’s no wonder people worry. But this world and the things in it — and the lifestyles we’re used to — should not be where our “treasure” lies. We need to fix our hearts and minds on the things above, not on earthly, fleshly desires.

I understand that’s easier said than done, when you go to the grocery store and eggs are $8 a dozen. When you get your heating and electric bills and they’re double what they were a year ago. When companies are laying off record numbers of people, our economy is failing, and for many, when they don’t know where their next meal will come from.

We need to remember that God provides for everything He has made. He sustains this old world. And He cares deeply about each of those who are His children. The Bible says He even numbers the very hairs of our heads! God feeds the birds of the air personally. Isn’t that amazing?! How He cares for, and provides for His creation! And as His children, He especially delights in providing for all of our needs. Even more so when we look to Him and trust Him for His provision and acknowledge His hand of care upon our lives, with gratefulness, humbleness and thanksgiving.

Consider a tree. From its roots to its trunk, to its branches and beyond, it draws water and nutrients up to the tips of the upper-most leaves. Man, in all his wisdom, cannot build a pump efficient enough to do a task like this. Yet God has equipped the trees to survive and thrive — automatically! And look at the intricacies of a leaf and consider how the tree cleans our air and provides oxygen for all the earth’s creatures!

Consider your own body. The Bible says that God “knit” each of us together in our mother’s wombs. Scientists are now coming to understand that this word “knit” is more appropriate than anyone realized previously. Our muscles and sinews and internal organs and bones are literally “knit” together, and — the process begins at the moment of conception. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Consider your eyes, your hands, your senses. Consider how our bodies heal themselves and fight infection and disease, with no need of a poison jab!

Consider the delicate balance of nature, how the Earth is the perfect distance from the Sun to provide us with the ideal climate. Consider how the Moon not only lights our night sky, but also controls our ocean tides, so the water of our planet is not dead and stagnant, but moves, cleans itself and sustains life.

Truly, when Jesus was teaching this lesson on worry, He meant for us to look to God’s creation and understand that what He creates, He sustains and provides for — and more than that — cares for on a personal level. Awhile back, when I was particularly troubled by a certain situation, I was in prayer when the Lord spoke to my heart and asked directly, “Rob, how old are you? Haven’t I always taken care of you, all of these years? Look at all you have been through in your life. Wasn’t I always there for you? Why, then, do you doubt Me now?!”

My point — and probably God’s point — is that it’s only the doubting that causes the worry, anxiety and depression. These are all tools the enemy uses to torment us, but he can only use those tools when we doubt — when we doubt GOD.

A friend of mine noted: “time and time again God provided and did wonderful and miraculous things for the people of Israel, yet each time when they were faced with a crisis, they cried out in disbelief that God would actually come through. In Exodus 16, the Israelites said, ‘if only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’ Verse 4 goes on to tell us how God provided manna from heaven with very strict instructions on how it was to be dealt with. God even tells them that He will test them to see whether they will follow His instructions. Of course this wasn’t good enough. They wanted meat. (So He even provided meat for them in the desert).

“The people of Israel are continuously faced with a crisis that they cannot meet by their own means. Each time they are faced with an impossible obstacle, God provides for them with His incredible power. Do they remember the last time that God delivered them? NO. Each time when a crisis comes up, starting at the banks of the Red Sea, all they can think is, ‘I want to go back to slavery.’ As God moves them forth through the waters of the Red Sea, provides fresh drinking water where there should be none, provides food where there should be none, these people cannot remember how God protected and provided. You would think that after they saw God spread the waters of the Red Sea they would believe all things are possible, but sadly, that was not the case.”

My friend continued, “We know that the people of Israel had to wander through the desert for forty years. Forty years is a long time to walk considering the journey only would have needed 17 days to complete. Why did God make them walk and wander for forty years? The answer is because it took forty years for them to trust God. I believe we would all like to think that we would not have had to wander forty years in the desert to learn these lessons if we had been there. Unfortunately, speaking for myself, I know that’s not the case. It took me forty years to see the blessings that God had given me in my life, to recognize that this was His doing. It took me forty years to learn to believe that the Bible is truly God’s Word. It took me forty years to understand the importance of prayer each day. It took me forty years to know that God works all things for good. It took me forty years to realize truly who Jesus is and what He did for me with an understanding that comes from the heart and not the mind. It took me forty years to realize that God is sovereign…”

What incredible blessings we forfeit when, instead of going to God in prayer, we operate in our own flesh, we rely on our own understanding, and worst of all, we doubt God. Our adversary, Satan, wants us to be lost and fearful. But that’s the opposite of God’s plan for His children.

The truth is, no matter what comes, we can’t help or save ourselves. Apart from God, we can do nothing. (John 15:4-5). When we become hard-hearted and believe we can control and do things in our own power, it’s no wonder we worry and become anxious.

There IS a pandemic in this world and it’s more serious than anything the Centers For Disease Creation can cook up. It’s the pandemic of doubting God. We say we believe Him and we say we believe His Word. So why, then, do we worry, when the cure for this ‘pandemic’ is so simple? In Jesus’ name, cast out the enemy’s evil spirits of unbelief, anxiety, pride, fear, faithlessness and self-sufficiency, and then turn to the Savior, who will rescue you. Isaiah 26:3 says of the Lord, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” Perfect peace — the perfect antidote to the pandemic of anxiety! And what does the Scripture say we must do to obtain this peace? Keep our minds steadfast on the Lord, and simply believe and trust Him.

Satan and his minions can only do what God allows. His will WILL be done here on earth as it is in heaven — with or without us. My final bit of advice is, focus on that. And more than that, put your own personal needs and comforts aside and become one of His remnant faithful believers, pushing back against the lies, deception and tyranny of the enemy, and do your utmost to see that God’s will IS done on earth. Get on God’s team. Occupy until He returns. If you’re a true believer in Christ, you have the very power of God within you. And even if you become a martyr for the cause of Christ in these dark days, while doing your part to see that God’s will is done on this earth, what, really, do you have to worry about?

E-Mail Rob Pue: Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com

Audio CDs and text versions of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066. Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com. Ask for message number 386.