If I Believe, Why Do I Struggle With Doubt?
Do you feel bad for doubting God? You want to believe, but you're plagued with so much doubt. You're not alone, and Jesus will meet you where you're at.
After looking at how we invest in God, family, close friendships, disciples and the overlooked, we turn to the sixth of seven relational groups to which Jesus cast his bread–skeptics, or doubters.
My favorite course in undergrad was my second year of Greek. To this day, I have a Koine Greek Bible on my nightstand and use it for my personal time with God. I’m what you might call a dabbler. I know just enough to recognize my limitations.
The reason I enjoyed Greek II was not because I love learning new languages but because this class forever changed the way I asked questions. I had a wonderful professor named Phil Brown (author of A Reader’s Hebrew Bible), and he taught me to channel my inner skeptic and not assume the obvious.
He taught me that just because I thought something was right didn’t make it necessarily so. Whenever I’m asked to review an author's manuscript, I always put on my skeptical hat, and one of the first things I look for are spots where the author overreaches with an argument.
Often, the overreach is subtle. 95% of their argument is sound, but then they’ll throw in one statement that is more opinion than fact. One of the telltale signs of overreach is general statements like “studies now say…”, “everyone agrees that…” or “we now know this is not the case.”
Really? What studies? Everyone agrees? We know this is not the case? These assumptions might be accurate. But the way they present their argument undercuts their credibility. This is where being a skeptic can prove beneficial.
Jesus Met Doubters Where They Were At
What I love about Jesus is that there was this mixture of certainty and room for doubt. On the one hand, he was clear in John 14:6 when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” On the other hand, Jesus allowed his disciples and others to wrestle with real questions he could have cleared up in a moment if he had so chosen.
He did this for several reasons. One of these is there are times we cannot handle the truth. In John 16:12, Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” There are other moments when God allows us to wrestle with questions because he wants our faith to grow.
This is the challenge maturing believers face—especially those who had grand experiences of God at conversion. They accept Christ and sense his closeness. But as time goes by, this nearness wanes. They’re still doing all the same things, but the feelings are different.
They’re reading their Bibles, going to church, and hanging out with solid Christian friends. But they feel distant from God and mistake this sense of distance for punishment. But like the parent who allows their children to cry at bedtime without coming to their every call for water, God handles his children. When they are new babies in Christ, they are drawn close.
But as they grow, sometimes these times wane to test their resolve and commitment to a life of faith.
We Are Invited to Bring Our Questions
But regardless of our stage of maturity, God invites us to bring our questions to him. Such was the case with Nicodemus in John 3. As a Jewish man who was a member of the Pharisees, Nicodemus came to Jesus as someone who was skilled in the Word of God.
