March 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' " (Matthew 14:31).

Devotional

That your faith has doubts does not make it doubtful that you have faith. If a believer does not have the faith of assurance, he may nonetheless have the faith of reliance, and that will take him to heaven. All the doubts and fears that ever harassed a child of God can never erase his name from the Lamb's book of life, or take him out of the heart of God, or shut him out of glory.

"Unbelief," says Rutherford, "may perhaps tear the copies of the covenant which Christ has given you; but he still keeps the original in heaven with himself. Your doubts and fears are no parts of the covenant; neither can they change Christ."

"The doubts and fears of the elect," remarks another, "are overruled by almighty grace to their present and eternal good; as conducing to keep us humble at God's footstool, to endear the merits of Jesus, and to make us feel our weakness and dependence, and to render us watchful unto prayer."

Did an unregenerate, lifeless soul ever entertain a doubt or fear of its spiritual condition? Never. Was it ever known anxiously and prayerfully to question or to reason about its eternal state? Never.

Do I seek to strengthen your doubts? No, but I do wish to strengthen your tried and doubting faith. I tell you for your encouragement that the most minuscule particle of grace has eternal glory in it, even as the smallest seed virtually contains all that proceeds from it—the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear.

Do not give up or be discouraged in your trial of faith. There is no sweeter way to heaven than along the path of free grace paved with hard trials. It was the very way that he who was "full of grace" (John 1:14) also trod. Even though he was rich in grace, yet see how deeply he was tried. Do not imagine, then, that your painful painful trials are signs of a graceless state. Oh no! The most gracious saints have been the most tried saints.

But do not rest there. There is still richer, surer comfort for you—even the fullness of grace that is in Jesus—grace, ever flowing and yet ever full. Divulge to him your doubts and fears. Tell him you desire him above all good. Plunge into the sea of his fullness; and he, who has created in your soul a thirst for grace, will certainly and amply give you the grace for which you thirst.

I need thee, precious Jesus,
for I am full of sin;
my soul is dark and guilty,
my heart is dead within.
I need the cleansing fountain
where I can always flee,
the blood of Christ most precious,
the sinner's perfect plea.

I need thee, precious Jesus,
for I am very poor;
a stranger and a pilgrim,
I have no earthly store.
I need the love of Jesus
to cheer me on my way,
to guide my doubting footsteps,
to be my strength and stay.

I need thee, precious Jesus,
and hope to see thee soon,
encircled with the rainbow
and seated on thy throne.
There, with thy blood-bought children,
my joy shall ever be,
to sing my Jesus' praises,
to gaze, O Lord, on thee.

(Frederick Whitfield, 1855)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.