Questioning Your Faith: Help For Our Unbelief
Ever found yourself saying, “Yes, I believe, but…” If so, you are in good company.
Even John the Baptist—Christ’s own cousin, who had given his entire life to proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. This same John who had baptized Jesus Himself, stood right there as a dove came down from heaven landing on Christ’s shoulder and heard the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son.” This very same man, after all this proclaiming and witnessing, finding himself in prison and most likely in depression, sent people to ask Jesus if He really was the Christ or if he should keep looking.
Yes, faith is the certainty of what we can’t see. (Hebrews 11:1) It’s like I always say, in the hard times, in the dry times we must choose to stand on what we know regardless of how we feel.
Nevertheless…
The fact remains—life is hard and the everyday happenings of life in a messed up world can easily shake us to our core. What we were so convinced of yesterday may begin to appear foolish in light of the tangible evidence right in front of us.
Our pastor recently made this point, “The circumstances of the moment can give doubt power over the truth of experience.” So true! (Check out the full sermon here.)
Do It The Right Way
When we look at heroes of the faith like John the Baptist and Job we see that even those we may consider to be “spiritual giants” had moments when, in the midst of their hard places, they paused to question, “Is any of this even real?”
Perhaps you cringed when you read that last line. Perhaps you, like so many of us raised in the church wonder in secrecy, “Is it even okay to question my faith? And could I dare to ever admit it out loud?”
As I stated a couple weeks ago in my post, Questioning Your Faith? : Good! , “Sometimes we have to question our faith to build our faith.”
To fully understand what I mean by that you’ll have to go back and read the previous post, but allow me to make this point:
When questions and doubts threatened to overtake these committed followers, what did they do? They went to the source. Job cried out to God. John the Baptist went straight to Christ. Instead of turning away, they pressed in. And in the end they found as their reward a stronger, more unshakable faith than they could have ever achieved in the absence of trials. (See James 1)
Help My Unbelief
Let me make this declaration: If you find yourself questioning your faith, GOD IS NOT MAD AT YOU!” Can anyone say freedom!?
I LOVE what rock-star sister, Priscilla Shirer says is reference to John the Baptist, “God gives John so much grace to wrestle through his faith….John’s reality has changed….Jesus has not.” (I dare you to listen to her message, Are you the expected one?)
Personally, I have often clung to the short story found in Mark 9:17-29. A father brings his son to the disciplines (and ultimately to Jesus) because the boy is possessed by an evil spirit. The father says to Christ, “If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus tells Him everything is possible for those who believe and the man cries out, “I believe! Help my unbelief.”
And then what happens? Jesus heals the boy. He could have said, “Sorry. Not good enough.” But no. Jesus saw the heart of this man was to believe. And that father’s faith, frail though it was, activated the power of God.
We don’t have to have all the answers to be faithful followers pleasing in His sight. I can’t even tell you how many times I have cried out to God, “I believe! Lord, help my unbelief!” Times when my mind gets so jumbled with questions and fears and frustrations that I can scarcely come up for air.
God sees straight to our hearts. And struggle though we may, we can rest assured that just as Abraham, and David, and so many others hoped on in faith, we too, having come to the Savior, stand righteous and justified before the Almighty God. And in doing so we will find strength to help in our time of need as we cry out to our Abba (Daddy) Father! (See Romans 4; Hebrews 4:15-16)
Case In Point
I began writing this two-part series from a place of heaviness and frustration. Of struggling and questioning. So much overwhelm and yuck. But something is shifting.
Listen…I have no more answers than I did when I began, yet in recalling the Word. In going back to Scripture. By the grace of the Holy Spirit to bring things up in my spirit, I am feeling refreshed and renewed. The struggle is real. My unbelief still knocks at the door of my faith. Yet He is helping me in ways I cannot explain, but also in ways I cannot deny! To Him be the glory.
In the midst of all I don’t know and all I will never settle this side of eternity, I know this…He who began a good work in me is faithful to complete it! (Philippians 1:6)
I believe! Lord, help my unbelief!
If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll jump back and read part 1 of this two part series, Questioning Your Faith? : Good!
HEADS UP: I will be taking the next few weeks off from publishing new content to focus a bit on refreshing (and hopefully growing) this blog and tackling a few other projects. You can help me out by sharing this post or site with anyone in your life who may find some encouragement from the things we hash out here. I’d be honored if you would. (Be sure to tag me if you share on social media (@JennyZentz on FB and IG)).
So much love to all of you who do life with me! You are amazing! And God has such incredible things in store for you.
