Do you ever struggle with doubt? If you're honest, the answer is likely yes. Doubt affects the lives of many believers. The reality is that no one’s faith is ever perfect in this life – and that includes you. But here’s the good news: if your faith isn't perfect, it means it has room to grow and become stronger today than it was yesterday.
Doubt is essentially the gap between our current faith and perfect faith. Sometimes we doubt our salvation; other times we doubt God’s love. We may even question the reliability of Scripture, the very existence of God, or the identity of Christ.
So, what should we do when these doubts about God surface? We should seek to find answers to them.
As C. S. Lewis wisely wrote in Mere Christianity, “Make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.”
Doubt is a natural part of being human because we have limitations – limitations in energy, time, and even knowledge. We all experience doubts because we simply can’t know everything. In order to navigate doubt in a spiritually healthy and faith-building way, we need to be clear about what doubt is, and what it isn't.
A biblical understanding of faith isn't blind or opposed to evidence, but it also doesn't require absolute information. Faith is simply trusting in what you have good reason to believe is true. It’s crucial to remember that faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. Sincerity is important, but trying really hard to believe something doesn't make it true or false. A great way to find out if you truly believe something is whether you are ready to act as if it were true in everyday life. For example, do you truly believe being pure in your thought life and relationships is the best way to live?
To doubt means to be between two minds or opinions. It is the middle ground between faith and unbelief. Unbelief, as Christian scholar Os Guinness notes, "is a state of mind that is closed against God, an attitude of the heart that disobeys God as much as it disbelieves the truth. Unbelief is the result of a settled choice."
There is a significant difference between struggling to believe in God and setting oneself against Him.
You Are Not Alone
If you have doubts about God, don’t beat yourself up. You are in good company. Even John the Baptist, a monumental figure, had doubts about Jesus as the Messiah.
Luke 7:18-19, 22-23 NIV [18] John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, [19] he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
[22] So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. [23] Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Doubts can enter our lives in various ways, including traumatic experiences, apathy, or mistaken beliefs often caused by error or false teaching. No matter how doubt gets in, it won't go away on its own. If you want to address it, to either eliminate or confirm it, you must take action.
Doubt is essentially the gap between our current faith and perfect faith. Sometimes we doubt our salvation; other times we doubt God’s love. We may even question the reliability of Scripture, the very existence of God, or the identity of Christ.
So, what should we do when these doubts about God surface? We should seek to find answers to them.
As C. S. Lewis wisely wrote in Mere Christianity, “Make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.”
Doubt is a natural part of being human because we have limitations – limitations in energy, time, and even knowledge. We all experience doubts because we simply can’t know everything. In order to navigate doubt in a spiritually healthy and faith-building way, we need to be clear about what doubt is, and what it isn't.
A biblical understanding of faith isn't blind or opposed to evidence, but it also doesn't require absolute information. Faith is simply trusting in what you have good reason to believe is true. It’s crucial to remember that faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. Sincerity is important, but trying really hard to believe something doesn't make it true or false. A great way to find out if you truly believe something is whether you are ready to act as if it were true in everyday life. For example, do you truly believe being pure in your thought life and relationships is the best way to live?
To doubt means to be between two minds or opinions. It is the middle ground between faith and unbelief. Unbelief, as Christian scholar Os Guinness notes, "is a state of mind that is closed against God, an attitude of the heart that disobeys God as much as it disbelieves the truth. Unbelief is the result of a settled choice."
There is a significant difference between struggling to believe in God and setting oneself against Him.
You Are Not Alone
If you have doubts about God, don’t beat yourself up. You are in good company. Even John the Baptist, a monumental figure, had doubts about Jesus as the Messiah.
Luke 7:18-19, 22-23 NIV [18] John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, [19] he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
[22] So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. [23] Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Doubts can enter our lives in various ways, including traumatic experiences, apathy, or mistaken beliefs often caused by error or false teaching. No matter how doubt gets in, it won't go away on its own. If you want to address it, to either eliminate or confirm it, you must take action.
6 Ways to Deal with Doubt
Realizing doubt is often the birth pangs of deepened faith.
Many of us became believers at an early age, with a faith mediated through our parents whom we trusted implicitly. As we become older, our faith is tested through trials, temptations, and suffering.
Romans 5:3-5 NIV [3] Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; [4] perseverance, character; and character, hope. [5] And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
James 1:2-5 NIV [2] Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, [3] because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. [4] Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. [5] If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
This is why our most significant doubt often comes when we are younger. But this isn't a bad thing. We all need to consider that the truths we espouse might be wrong, in order to embrace our faith more deeply. Such doubt often results in stronger faith.
Be ready to live with mystery.
Sometimes we want all the answers. We want complete understanding before we commit to God. While God has revealed so much to us, and there is much we can understand, there are the “secret” things that belong to Him alone. For example we will never be able to comprehend the Trinity, or how God created everything out of nothing. But what we can comprehend is enough for us to rest in God when mystery arises.
Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Make the main things the main things.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV [3] For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. [6] After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, [8] and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
So many of us doubt secondary issues such as how and when God created the world or the details of Christ’s return. There are many issues in the Christian faith about which there has been legitimate disagreement for centuries. All of orthodox Christianity, however, has always been in unity about who Christ is and what he did.
So when you begin doubting what you were taught about secondary issues, don’t get too bent out of shape. A lot of us are still working through these matters.
Live according to the faith you still have.
Doubt is not unbelief. Again, doubt is the bridge that connects current faith to perfect faith. And that bridge will stand until our death or Christ’s return. When we go through a faith crisis, though, we don’t naturally see things this way. Once doubt enters and infects our lives on a conscious level, we may interpret it as outright unbelief. We simply don’t know how else to process it. We think we’re on an inevitable road to complete unbelief.
Unfortunately, since we think this way, and since others may treat us as if we have the plague, we begin to live as unbelievers. If sin were not the instigating problem before, it becomes the chronic problem now. It’s important for those struggling with doubt to not let their doubt influence their lives such that they start living like unbelievers. Encourage doubters to continue to live as Christians, repenting and believing the gospel, even if they don’t always feel like Christians.
Doubt your doubts.
When we go through times of doubt, we need to make sure we are critical of our doubts as well. Doubt usually doesn’t offer a better solution; it just nags at the one we already have. For Christians, we can be sure that the central truths of our faith will never be outweighed by our doubt. Pestered, yes. But never, when we learn to doubt our doubts, should our faith be overthrown.
Work through the sin in your life.
Often this is the first place Christians go with a loved one in the crisis of doubt, in large part because it helps us put doubt into a discernible box. It also helps us to find a quick solution. “Oh, you’re doubting your faith? Okay, quit sinning! Next?” Obviously, doubt is often more complicated.
We must recognize that personal sin is a faith-drainer. Disobedience to God will take a significant toll on your faith.
We’re all sinners, but some sins take a unique toll on our mind and worldview—especially if we attempt to justify them. For example, struggling with same-sex attraction is one thing; actively embracing homosexuality and trying to justify it biblically is another thing altogether. The toll here is not only moral, social, and physical; it also corrupts the mind. The effort to reinterpret the Bible in a way more friendly to homosexuality won’t remain isolated to this one category; sooner or later, the mental paradigm you constructed to make your sin acceptable will corrupt everything else.
In short, if there is something you know you’re supposed to be doing, and you’re not doing it, doubt will soon spread, and your crisis of faith will be hard to overcome. We need to gently ask these types of questions when the time is right. But simply accusing people of some deep-rooted personal sin right away can be judgmental and embarrassing. Ask if there’s any sin that might be causing the person’s doubt. If the answer is no and you cannot readily identify anything as the cause, don’t push the issue.
If you find yourself with doubts, you're in good company. But having the courage to doubt your doubts and investigate the root of these issues over time will lead to greater confidence as a follower of Jesus. This is what the journey of faith is all about.
Spiritual Growth Helps You Deal With Doubt
If you are a follower of Jesus, then it is always good to ask yourself if you are growing spiritually. Are you reading your Bible on a regular basis, praying, sharing your faith, and living in community with others? (Not in a legalistic, "God will love me more if . . ." sort of way, but because these are necessary ingredients for spiritual growth.) Just as a plant either grows or withers, so a worldview must produce results or it will be discarded as impractical.
When we sin and are disobedient to God, our sin creates relational distance from Him. God doesn't love us any less, and we aren't at risk of losing our salvation, but we may need to ask Him to show us if we need to confess anything so that our fellowship with Him can be restored.
Psalms 139:23-24 NIV [23] Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Realizing doubt is often the birth pangs of deepened faith.
Many of us became believers at an early age, with a faith mediated through our parents whom we trusted implicitly. As we become older, our faith is tested through trials, temptations, and suffering.
Romans 5:3-5 NIV [3] Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; [4] perseverance, character; and character, hope. [5] And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
James 1:2-5 NIV [2] Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, [3] because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. [4] Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. [5] If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
This is why our most significant doubt often comes when we are younger. But this isn't a bad thing. We all need to consider that the truths we espouse might be wrong, in order to embrace our faith more deeply. Such doubt often results in stronger faith.
Be ready to live with mystery.
Sometimes we want all the answers. We want complete understanding before we commit to God. While God has revealed so much to us, and there is much we can understand, there are the “secret” things that belong to Him alone. For example we will never be able to comprehend the Trinity, or how God created everything out of nothing. But what we can comprehend is enough for us to rest in God when mystery arises.
Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Make the main things the main things.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV [3] For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. [6] After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, [8] and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
So many of us doubt secondary issues such as how and when God created the world or the details of Christ’s return. There are many issues in the Christian faith about which there has been legitimate disagreement for centuries. All of orthodox Christianity, however, has always been in unity about who Christ is and what he did.
So when you begin doubting what you were taught about secondary issues, don’t get too bent out of shape. A lot of us are still working through these matters.
Live according to the faith you still have.
Doubt is not unbelief. Again, doubt is the bridge that connects current faith to perfect faith. And that bridge will stand until our death or Christ’s return. When we go through a faith crisis, though, we don’t naturally see things this way. Once doubt enters and infects our lives on a conscious level, we may interpret it as outright unbelief. We simply don’t know how else to process it. We think we’re on an inevitable road to complete unbelief.
Unfortunately, since we think this way, and since others may treat us as if we have the plague, we begin to live as unbelievers. If sin were not the instigating problem before, it becomes the chronic problem now. It’s important for those struggling with doubt to not let their doubt influence their lives such that they start living like unbelievers. Encourage doubters to continue to live as Christians, repenting and believing the gospel, even if they don’t always feel like Christians.
Doubt your doubts.
When we go through times of doubt, we need to make sure we are critical of our doubts as well. Doubt usually doesn’t offer a better solution; it just nags at the one we already have. For Christians, we can be sure that the central truths of our faith will never be outweighed by our doubt. Pestered, yes. But never, when we learn to doubt our doubts, should our faith be overthrown.
Work through the sin in your life.
Often this is the first place Christians go with a loved one in the crisis of doubt, in large part because it helps us put doubt into a discernible box. It also helps us to find a quick solution. “Oh, you’re doubting your faith? Okay, quit sinning! Next?” Obviously, doubt is often more complicated.
We must recognize that personal sin is a faith-drainer. Disobedience to God will take a significant toll on your faith.
We’re all sinners, but some sins take a unique toll on our mind and worldview—especially if we attempt to justify them. For example, struggling with same-sex attraction is one thing; actively embracing homosexuality and trying to justify it biblically is another thing altogether. The toll here is not only moral, social, and physical; it also corrupts the mind. The effort to reinterpret the Bible in a way more friendly to homosexuality won’t remain isolated to this one category; sooner or later, the mental paradigm you constructed to make your sin acceptable will corrupt everything else.
In short, if there is something you know you’re supposed to be doing, and you’re not doing it, doubt will soon spread, and your crisis of faith will be hard to overcome. We need to gently ask these types of questions when the time is right. But simply accusing people of some deep-rooted personal sin right away can be judgmental and embarrassing. Ask if there’s any sin that might be causing the person’s doubt. If the answer is no and you cannot readily identify anything as the cause, don’t push the issue.
If you find yourself with doubts, you're in good company. But having the courage to doubt your doubts and investigate the root of these issues over time will lead to greater confidence as a follower of Jesus. This is what the journey of faith is all about.
Spiritual Growth Helps You Deal With Doubt
If you are a follower of Jesus, then it is always good to ask yourself if you are growing spiritually. Are you reading your Bible on a regular basis, praying, sharing your faith, and living in community with others? (Not in a legalistic, "God will love me more if . . ." sort of way, but because these are necessary ingredients for spiritual growth.) Just as a plant either grows or withers, so a worldview must produce results or it will be discarded as impractical.
When we sin and are disobedient to God, our sin creates relational distance from Him. God doesn't love us any less, and we aren't at risk of losing our salvation, but we may need to ask Him to show us if we need to confess anything so that our fellowship with Him can be restored.
Psalms 139:23-24 NIV [23] Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
RSS Feed