The life motto of Anselm, an eleventh-century theologian and philosopher, was fides quaerens intellectum, which means “faith seeking understanding.”
I resonate with that since I am a part of a generation that came of age longing for a faith with room for honesty, mystery, and processing doubts. It makes me think of the man in Mark 9:24 who says to Jesus, "I do believe; but help me overcome my unbelief!"
Regardless of our age, we all experience pain and loss. Eventually, life robs us of idealism, shatters our naive perspectives, and sobers us to the reality of our broken, sinful world. Often, those blows create doubts in our faith.
The problem is many of us have been taught that doubt is in-congruent with faith. If you were taught that doubt cannot co-exist with faith, a few doubts could shatter your faith entirely.
In his book, “The Reason for God,” Timothy Keller reflects on the benefit of doubt.
“A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.”
So, what do we do with our doubts? How do we process our doubts in light of our relationship with Jesus? Here are five steps we can take.
1. Stop viewing doubt as abnormal.
We see examples of doubt throughout the Bible - in men like David, Elijah, Peter, and Thomas, along with couples like Job and his wife, Abraham and Sarah, and Hannah and her husband.
It seems like nearly everyone in relationship with God has dealt with their own doubts at one point or another. But doubt doesn’t have to sideline or destroy our faith. Doubt can be a catalyst for needed reflection and the re-emerging of vibrant, thriving faith.
2. Lean into God as you express your doubt.
A healthy relationship with God creates space to express doubt. In the Psalms, we see a precedent for taking doubt to God. For the Hebrews, God offered a safe space to express doubt—the Bible’s term is “lament.” According to one Old Testament scholar I studied under in seminary, 73 of the 150 psalms are lament. That means 47% of the songs in the Old Testament include the expression of doubts and questions.
Old Testament scholar, Walter Bruggeman, writes, “Lament is caused by disorienting events or circumstances that make unsense of the world we try so hard to render sensible.”
Cutting-edge research about young people and doubt indicates that doubt isn’t a danger to faith, but unexpressed doubt is. In their book, Growing Faith, Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin state, “Research has shown it’s not doubt that’s toxic to faith. It’s silence.”
Jesus is greater than our doubt, but we have to voice that doubt to experience this victory!
3. Doubt and unbelief are very different things.
When I’ve taught about this different approach to faith, I’ve often received pushback from people who confused doubt and unbelief.
Pastor Colin Smith distinguishes between the two in this way, “Doubt is not the absence of faith; doubt is the questioning of faith. You can only doubt what you already believe. Doubt presupposes some kind of faith.”
To doubt something, you need to have believed in it in the first place. Smith goes on to share, “Doubt is questioning what you believe. Unbelief is a determined refusal to believe. Doubt is a struggle faced by the believer. Unbelief is a condition of the unbeliever.”
Questions shouldn’t cause us to fear—a refusal to believe should.
4. A healthy relationship with God invites us to take our doubts to him as laments before we turn them into complaints we bring to others.
I confess that I often complain to others about something before I cry out to God. I doubt I’m the only one though.
If we were honest, how many of us call or text someone about our current problem before we take it to God?
In scripture though, we see examples of men and women who feel the freedom to take their doubts to God. In Psalm 13, David cries out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”
Since God is the one who can change our circumstances, we need to make God the first person we take our laments about our circumstances to. Laments turn our doubts into offerings before God.
5. Jesus is greater than our doubts, and He’s always been greater!
When the man says in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief,” the final phrase can also be translated “help my weakness of faith.” Jesus answered that prayer by rebuking and casting the demon out of the man’s son.
In John 20:25, when Thomas wouldn’t believe Jesus had really been resurrected unless he saw it with his own eyes, we see Jesus returning, showing his scars to Thomas, and calling him to believe.
What if, as you get ready for Easter this year, you took your doubts to Jesus? What if you said, “Jesus, I bring these before you. Here are all of my doubts, laments, questions, and disorienting experiences. I lay all of this at your feet and invite you into it. Please take this mess and meet me in it.”
Jesus is greater than your doubts, and He longs to answer your prayers. What if He transformed your doubts, laments, and questions into holy ground today? What if the address of your doubts became the landmark where you experienced the power of Jesus this Easter, as he brought new life from what you thought was dying?
Jesus > Our Doubts
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer who believes he has the best last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He is the creator of the Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com.
