I asked Google to define the meaning of the absence of doubt in life. Here is some of what it gave me.

“The absence of doubt is defined as a state of certainty or complete confidence about something. It means being absolutely sure, with no uncertainty or reservation.

Key aspects of the absence of doubt:

• Certainty: It is the mental adhesion to a proposition without misgiving as to its truth.

• Clarity and Conviction: In various philosophical and religious frameworks, it signifies a state of mental clarity that frees one from confusion.

• Beyond Question: A condition where questioning is absent because all reasonable inquiries have been resolved and the matter is considered an established fact.”

So what is the purpose of this question in the first place?

I have been on a search to find that place where I cross over the threshold between doubting my walk with Jesus and living a life without doubt of who Jesus really is and what my identity is as the New Creation.

I was going to write a story using that idea as a moment of the Lord inserting Himself into the character’s life. To show the effect of Jesus’s physical presence on our faith. But I discovered the answer I got from the Holy Spirit did not lend itself to a fictional plot.

So here goes the rest of the story. (That pun typed itself. Sorry)

When I asked the Holy Spirit what the definition of the absence of doubt was. I heard the word “certainty.” Thus, the selection above is from Google.

Google draws a line between certainty and faith. Where certainty about anything is based on solid observable fact, and faith is confidence in something you believe is true.

So to live without doubt and walk in 100% certainty, you must be able to see the object of your confidence. It also suggests that faith can never be certain, since the object of your confidence cannot be seen.

So, according to the great Google in the ether, unless you have solid evidence, nothing can be certain.

Well, obviously, Google doesn’t give much credence to Hebrews 11:1, 

“being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.”

That verse tells me that our faith is certain. And that the writer of Hebrews understood that certainty completely.

But let me use Google’s parameters. The key is whether there is enough evidence to qualify as certainty.

Faith IS certainty based on an intimate relationship and ongoing experience with someone.

The Apostles had firsthand evidence of who Jesus was. This led them into and over the threshold of certainty. The place where doubt doesn’t exist.

Is your relationship with Jesus profound enough to eliminate ALL doubt of the certainty of your Kingdom Identity and Jesus’s place in your life?

For those of us who have been growing closer to Jesus every day for a long time, the evidence of His presence and interaction with us is overwhelmingly certain. The reality of His place in my life is as real as if He were standing in front of me. I have heard His voice, felt His touch, been disciplined as a son, and communicate with Him and the Holy Spirit daily. I’ve listened to His jokes and marveled at the ways He creatively expresses His love for me. He’s the master of joyous surprises. He answers most of my questions with questions and comforts me when I get impatient for the answers that don’t come quickly.

He has called my name to wake me up to talk. He’s tapped me physically on my shoulder to wake me up. He woke me up to pray ten minutes before one of my grandkids was born. His timing was and is perfect. He even sent my guardian angel to encourage me when I found myself in a desperate situation three months after I came to Him.

He’s proven Himself over and over and over again.

My Lord is more certain on so many levels; doubting Him is illogical. This certain faith I have only drives me to pursue His face more relentlessly. I have never needed to put my hands in the nail scars. He has proved who He is in every way except seeing His physical face.

You could never convince me He doesn’t exist because I can’t see Him. But does all of the above mean I have never doubted my relationship with Jesus? No. In the early days after I became born again, I had no experience with religion at all. I was a clean slate. So I took everything I read in the Bible at face value. I had no reason not to. I would describe that period as my “Childlike Faith” period. This was a very wonderful time of learning what my new life was all about. 

But as I interacted with the people in the churches I attended, doubts began to creep in, especially during the parenting years. Times were rough for my wife and me, with many of the same life experiences that challenge young married couples. I became desperate for God to do something as He had done for the disciples, and I began to pray in desperation for God to help us. 

For the longest time, He didn’t answer. I found out He was waiting to find out if I would turn to Him instead of giving up and trying to find something else to help. It never occurred to me to seek an answer other than God. So one night, I decided I would pray until He answered me. It ended up with me exploding in anger at Him. I screamed and cursed until I was hoarse. Then I felt His anger come upon me and push me into the sand (I was at a father-daughter beach campout). He finally answered me. Even though I had made him mad by my behavior, I could still feel His love at the center of it.

He became extremely real to me in that moment. 

This event became the first of a lifetime of very personal interaction with my Lord and ever-increasing moments of supernatural Father-Son interaction. My prayer life expanded until my mind acclimated to His timetables, which developed into trust in His goodness and His continual presence in my everyday life.

So learning to walk in a complete absence of doubt took most of my life to get to this place of a life defined by my heavenly destiny. “Here on Earth as it is in Heaven” isn’t just a familiar part of a prayer I pray every day. It’s a description of a change in perspective and lifestyle that forms the basis of my worldview. 

So the threshold of certainty is crossed when your approach to life shifts from an earthly one to one defined by your identity as the New Creation and your ever-increasing intimate relationship with Jesus.

All of this is due to a single-minded, relentless pursuit of what I felt was my only hope in this world. Prayer became my lifeline and then my access to comfort and understanding.

Is Jesus your only hope? Why or why not?