From My Perspective - - -

Within one’s lifetime, there will be some occasions when doubts and fears arise. Usually, they occur when there are degrees of uncertainty and many unknowns. Pondering uncertainty and focusing on the unknowns can and will freeze one in his/her tracks. To remind oneself to “stay focused” is all well and good - but – “focused upon what?” – becomes the question. It has been said: “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” Dale Carnegie is quoted in different writings as having said: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

At the President’s Prayer Breakfast prior to Easter Sunday, as he was reflecting on the events leading to the Cross and Resurrection, the President said: “For like us, Jesus knew doubt.  Like us, Jesus knew fear.  In the garden of Gethsemane, with attackers closing in around him, Jesus told His disciples: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  He fell to his knees, pleading with His Father, saying: If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  And yet, in the end, He confronted His fear with words of humble surrender, saying: If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. So it is only because Jesus conquered His own anguish, conquered His fear, that we’re able to celebrate the resurrection.  It’s only because He endured unimaginable pain that wracked His body and bore the sins of the world that He burdened - that burdened His soul that we are able to proclaim: He is Risen!...We all have experiences that shake our faith.  There are times where we have questions for God’s plan relative to us but that’s precisely when we should remember Christ’s own doubts and eventually his own triumph…”

The Biblical Perspective regarding Jesus Christ as He approached the Cross and Suffering is given in the Gospel of John – John 12:27-33 – "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.Father, glorify your name.Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, An angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, This voice has come for your sake, not mine.Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” 

These events did not catch Jesus off –guard or by surprise. An eternal plan was unfolding in real time and history. The Covenant of Redemption occurred before the earth was formed – “before the creation of the world.” This Covenant is stated in I Peter 1:18-21 – “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

To allow that Jesus Christ would have Doubt and Fear ignores several Biblical principles. Among them is James 1:6-8, “…But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” In other places, Jesus rebuked His Disciples because of their doubts and lack of faith. In Matthew 14:31 when Peter attempted to walk on water,  “…Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. You of little faith…why did you doubt?" In Matthew 21:21-22, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt…if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."Jesus Christ had committed His life and all that pertained to it into the hands of the Faithful Father – His will to be done! Is that our commitment and consistency in terms of our lives and all that pertains to them? Consider these things with me!