Faith

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

I grew up thinking that “faith” and “doubt” were opposites. Faith was good. Doubt was bad. With that mindset, even questions could be dangerous, as I figured they could lead to doubt. The questions I used to resist ranged from wondering whether God really cared that much about X or Y specific rule mentioned in the Bible, sometimes vaguely or heavily interpreted, to that large and ever-present question: Does God exist?

At one point, I had what seemed to me a revelation, and which I have since learned to be something many people of faith agree on: Doubt is not the enemy of faith but can in fact make it stronger. When you are a person of faith and you question your faith, one of two things happens: either you lose said faith, in which case it was probably not real or strong enough to begin with, or you find that despite the inner struggles, despite the sadness, despite the unexplainable or unanswerable, your faith remains.

There are only two things it says I need to do in order to have faith and please God: 1- Believe that He is, and 2- believe that He rewards those who “diligently seek Him”.

I have found peace in knowing that I’ll never have all the answers, and that’s okay. That’s a part of faith.—Jessie Richards [1]

The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job.—Rick Warren

[1] “Healthy Questions and Doubts” Anchor, February 25, 2020.