Dealing With Doubt

When was the last time you had doubts about your faith? I know, I know, doubting is not the Super Christian thing to do but if Thomas could stand in the room with the risen Christ and still have doubts then I think it’s entirely normal for us, 2000 years later, to wrestle with our faith. I especially think this is true (maybe even important) in a world where false information is accessible at the touch of a screen.

I don’t know what questions you have about your faith. Maybe the last year of chaos and upheaval has brought with it more questions than answers. Maybe you’ve run up against some personal obstacles that have left your faith on shaky ground. Maybe you’re just exhausted and you wonder if this is worth it at all. Maybe you’ve listened for years to stories about the parting of seas, walking on water, blind people seeing, lame people walking and dead men rising and you wonder if anyone else thinks it all sounds a little far-fetched.

I don’t know, maybe I’m not supposed to say believing the Bible can sound like believing in fairytales but when I have allowed myself to be curious about this crazy-sounding faith the process of questioning and seeking answers has helped me find a solid foundation in a world where truth is ever-shifting. I can’t say I have answers for every question facing us today but I am certain that Jesus is a faithful, solid foundation to build upon, even if sometimes the thoughts and beliefs I build need to be reworked.

Here are three thought processes that help me find a firm foundation when my faith feels uncertain.

We all believe in something. At the end of the day, we all get to choose where we place our faith. Whether it’s to believe in no belief, to choose our ancestral religion, science, self-reliance, the way of Jesus, or some other belief system we all make decisions about what we’ll believe. Of all the systems I know, Jesus offers the most hope. Hope that when I am not enough his love and sacrifice cover me. If I get to choose, I like the choice to believe in the love of God to do what I cannot do for myself.

The disciples died proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus were the only one who said he had risen from the dead we might be able to easily dismiss him. The reason we know about a risen Jesus today is because people who followed him and saw him after his death were willing to give their lives proclaiming his resurrection as truth. I don’t know about you, but if I hadn’t seen a person alive after they were crucified I don’t think I would give my life proclaiming I had seen it. Nope. No thanks. Hard pass. Better things to do. The witness and sacrifice of these men who walked with Jesus and the hundreds of others who saw him alive remind me they had much to lose (and gave much) if their story wasn’t true.

Biblical prophecy points to Jesus. If someone wants to address a letter to me the proper format requires six pieces of information, a zip code, city, state, street name, house number, and my name. Six pieces of information will just about guarantee a letter arrives in my hands rather than those of anyone else on the planet and it’s likely you could omit one or two pieces of information and it will still make it safely to me. The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies that point to Jesus as the coming Messiah. They foretell his birthplace, the true nature of his rule, his death, resurrection, and more. In the same way my address points to me, these prophecies point to Jesus. The possibility that one person could fulfill even a handful of these prophecies is unlikely at best, yet Jesus fulfills them all. For more on this topic check out this post by the Jesus Film.

If I get to choose my beliefs and if the testimony of the disciples was worth their lives and if Jesus fulfills an improbable number of prophecies pointing to Him as the Son of God then it’s up to me to decide what I want to do about it. I can choose to ignore it, walk away in my own power and live life for myself or I can surrender myself to the one who ultimately holds the hope for all humanity. I’ll choose door two, not perfectly mind you, but perfection was never the point.

Jesus is the point. And on the foundation of Jesus, we get work with the Spirit to build a city of faith, a church made up of all walks of humanity seeking after the Upsidedown Kingdom Way of the one who gave up his high position so that we could be with him. Goodness, I like that story so much more than the one I’d write for myself.

Where do you turn when your faith feels shaky? How do you find your way back to the comfort, love and sacrifice of Jesus as your foundation?