I’ve recently heard a couple of Christian friends confess what they considered to be terrible weaknesses in their faith. They thought that they were the only ones, that everyone else was completely secure and confident. They were surprised, and comforted, to learn that they were not alone.
Doubts Are Normal
In the Psalms, we are given many examples of the writer feeling less than at the top of his game. For instance:
- Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (10:1)
- My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? (22:1)
- Why have You forgotten me? (42:9)
- Why do You sleep, O Lord? Why do You hide Your face? (44:23-24)
- Why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? (74:1)
- O LORD, why do You reject my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? (88:14)
I find it comforting, however, that almost all of these psalms end with an expression of renewed hope and trust in God. Only Psalm 88 is an exception: It ends before the writer has prayed his way to peace.
To anyone dealing with doubts or questions about their Christian faith, here is good news: Judging simply by the number of hits on an Internet search engine, you are not alone. Here are some questions I researched:
- Am I really saved?
- Are my prayers reaching any higher than the ceiling?
- Why don’t I feel God’s presence?
- Others say they “felt the Spirit move” or they “heard God speak”. Why didn’t I?
- Do I really believe any of this?
There are good answers to each of these questions. My Internet search came up with pages of articles. My point here is not the advice or the answers, though. It’s the fact that the questions are common enough to warrant a flood of blog articles. If you are asking these questions, you have plenty of company!
Important note: If you do the same search and find similar articles, ask for wisdom and discernment while reading them. Anyone can post anything on the Web, and not all are of the highest quality. Test all advice against the Bible. God never contradicts Himself, and the Bible is His final word on any topic.
Why Do We Doubt?
Why do so many people have these doubts and questions? There are probably many reasons, but I’d like to focus on three good possibilities.
God Is Big, But Not Physically Visible
We can’t wrap our brains around just how big He is. It’s like an ant trying to grasp a whale: It doesn’t even understand the ocean, and sure doesn’t understand the immense creature at home in it. God is so much more than I can fathom…but I can’t see Him with my physical eyes.
This paradox can leave me me wishing, in the absence of something three-dimensional to hold onto, for a constant overwhelming subjective experience instead. But that is unreasonable: I know that subjective feelings come and go for any number of reasons. By themselves, they aren’t sufficient to dispel all doubt.
Too Good To Be True?
Given that God is so big, the idea that we are invited into relationship with Him is just incredible. It seems too good to be true. We think it cannot possibly be as simple as God says. There must be more that we are required to do, or to feel, in order to be right with Him. But there isn’t: We can’t earn anything, and nothing depends on our meeting any criteria.
It really is true: We are offered a gift, for free, and simply have to accept it.
Satan Is Active
We have an enemy. That enemy hates God, hates anyone God loves (which would be “all humans”), and is constantly working to undermine our relationship with Him. Satan wants to destroy us. One way he attempts to do that is to magnify every possible question and hint of doubt that crosses our minds. If he can keep us confused and floundering, he can hope to ruin our joy in God’s love.
Unrealistic Expectations
Why does each doubting, questioning person think that they are shamefully outside the norm? Perhaps part of the reason is unrealistic expectations of ourselves. I can think of a couple of everyday parallels that may be relevant.
I sometimes enjoy reading romance novels. I call them “junk food for the mind”. Everybody knows the plot: boy meets girl; boy and/or girl resist the mutual attraction; conflict ensues; after a crisis is resolved, both give in and admit their feelings; they live happily ever after.
The problem would come if the reader expected their real-life romance to be resolved once-and-for-all and happy-ever-after. Life doesn’t work that way. Relationships are a lifelong marathon that includes paying bills, washing dirty socks, and juggling work schedules.
Another thing I sometimes enjoy is watching home-makeover shows on television. The house starts out with problems. Experts come in to make it all better. Those experts encounter unexpected issues, but get them resolved…just barely in time for the big reveal. That reveal comes to homeowners who have been away from the rotted boards and the sheetrock dust. The homeowners are thrilled with the results: They are much better than they could ever have imagined.
Anyone who has survived a construction project knows that it doesn’t work exactly like that! Anyone who thinks the dust will be completely gone and the furniture will be perfect is headed for disappointment.
That goes for the cooking shows, also. When has anything we’ve cooked happened in a perfectly clean kitchen, with all the ingredients already prepped, and the dirty dishes magically disappeared as a perfectly plated meal is presented? 😁
If you are smiling and agreeing about how unrealistic novels and TV shows are, why would you and I think that our spiritual lives will always run perfectly, either? Do we really expect to be as close to our heavenly Father as Jesus was?
That is the goal, of course. But it won’t be completely achieved until we reach Heaven. While we’re still here, we will continue to be sinful human beings. We are in the process of growing to be more like Jesus, but we’re not yet what we ought to be…and that’s OK!
Hold On To God’s Word; Let Jesus Hold On To You
When I beat myself up because I don’t feel “properly Christian,” I’m giving my feelings priority over God’s promises. The Bible tells me that “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37) and that “no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-29). It says God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), that salvation is available to “whoever believes” (John 3:16) and those who receive Jesus have the right to become His children (John 1:12). Those promises have more authority than my internal status of the moment.
It so happens that as I am writing this article, I have just acquired a couple of diamond-art pictures that seem to fit this topic. They illustrate the moment when Jesus rescued Peter from sinking during the walking-on-water miracle in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter had great faith at first, leaving the boat to go to Jesus across the water. But then he became frightened, started to sink, and cried out to Jesus for help. Jesus immediately reached out to him, even while gently chiding him for his wavering faith. But notice: Peter was showing faith simply by calling to Him for help, and Jesus did help even while noting his weakness. All Peter had to do want help and trust Jesus to provide it.
Share, Don’t Hide
We do a disservice to ourselves, to our fellow believers, and to the unbelievers in our lives when we fail to be honest and authentic about our faith journeys. We and our church family can learn together from shared struggles. The one who is on the other side can support the one who is still in the valley. Watching unbelievers can see that we are human, no more innately “spiritual” than they are. But God supplies our need and lifts us up, and is willing to do so for them, as well.
Note: A similar article on this site is “Assurance“.
