Doubt can help deepen our faith

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” said the father in Mark 9, when he asked Jesus to heal his son. This sentence is something I’ve taken to praying recently, because I can relate to it a lot. I believe, but doubts creep in. Doubts whether God will provide, doubts about if God will hear my prayers. I know deep down these doubts aren’t the truth, but they still hang around, like little distractions attempting to pull me off the solid rock of faith. 

It might seem like doubt is an enemy of faith, like boarding a non-stop train to unbelief, but is it? 

A while ago, I started lurking on deconstruction Facebook groups. I wasn’t ‘deconstructing’ myself, but I just became curious about why Christians would abandon their faith.

But there was one thing that struck me. Most deconstructors were those who grew up in the Church. At various times they’d had doubts, but they didn’t know how to talk about them. Or, if they did talk about them, they didn’t get satisfactory answers. Or they had parents who acted like there was no option but to be Christian, as if it wasn’t a choice that God gives us all to make.  

Leading towards or away from God 

A doubt is like a seed that can be hijacked by the enemy; it can fester and grow into unbelief. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In the right environment, a doubt can actually flourish into deeper faith, and deeper connection to God. 

Let’s look at it this way; a doubt can grow from a question: Why didn’t God answer my prayer? Why does God allow suffering? Why am I going through this trial, and why isn’t God helping me? Why, if Jesus is so loving, are people in the Church sometimes so unkind and judgmental? 

A true answer to these questions will always lead us deeper towards God, towards His word and the truth of who He is. It’s only when we don’t get satisfactory answers – or perhaps don’t really want to know the truth – that a doubt can lead us further away from God. 

He’d much rather we came to Him honestly, than not come to Him at all

If you have ever tried to share the gospel with others, you may get the sense that some people don’t really want to know the truth. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:10: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” 

Expressing doubt honestly

Doubting is not the same as unbelief. We see in the book of Psalms that the psalmists experienced doubts. For example, in Psalm 73, Asaph describes a time when “my feet had almost slipped. For I envied the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (v2). It’s only when he went into the sanctuary of God (v17) that he realised the truth of how things would end for the wicked. He was brought to his senses and realised how foolish he was to be envious of those who don’t have God. In Psalm 42, the sons of Korah question God, asking: “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” Even Jesus Himself asked: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). 

These are biblical examples of how we can express our doubts, and how we can talk to God about them. God isn’t offended by our emotions that sometimes cloud our knowledge of the truth. He’d much rather we came to Him honestly, than not come to Him at all.  

We can pray to God about our doubts, and we can talk about them with other believers. If we are genuinely open to the truth at all times, there is nothing to fear. We can also be that loving listener for those around us who have doubts, whether it’s non-believers, our children or those struggling in their faith. These kinds of conversations aren’t ones to shut down in fear that doubts will erode faith. On the contrary, open, honest conversation might just help to save souls.