Is It Normal To Question Your Faith?
If you type the title of this article into Google, you will find a dozen different sources telling you it is perfectly normal and healthy to question your faith. Some may even encourage you to question what you believe in.
Before I go on I want to say that when it comes to questioning your faith or having doubts about your faith, I am not talking about Christians who are having trouble understanding certain Biblical subjects or Christians who haven’t learned how to fast/pray, or are struggling to have faith for something (healing, prosperity, etc). What I mean by questioning your faith is a Christian who questions whether or not God is real, whether or not the Bible is true, or whether or not Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God. Asking questions to gain knowledge is perfectly fine but asking questions to challenge the legitimacy of the Word of God is not only wrong but unrighteous as a Christian.
When you begin to question the legitimacy of your faith, or when you begin to wonder whether Christianity is the right religion for you, you are in a dangerous place. I’ll even go as far as saying you aren’t even saved at all. Because … how can you be saved if you’re not even sure the One who saved you exists?
Hebrews 11:1 NIV says, Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
So let me ask you this; if you are questioning your faith, is it really faith at all?
Questioning your faith is practical atheism; there is no in-between when it comes to being a Christian. There is no such thing as a free-thinking Christian, an open-minded Christian, or a progressive Christian. You don’t get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible you believe in and which parts you reject. You can’t be kind of Christian any more than you can kind of be pregnant or kind of be dead. You either believe or you don’t. Christ is the head of your life or He isn’t.
Numbers 23:19 KJV says, God is not a man, that he should lie …
When Christ revealed Himself as the Son of God, that was absolutely true. When He said He would be crucified and rise again, that is exactly what happened. And when He said He was coming back to get all of His Children, there is no doubt that He most certainly will.
The Word of God is true from Genesis to Revelation—not because I believe it to be true—it is true because it is. Whether you question it, believe it, accept it or not, the Bible is 100% accurate. But let me break this down even further for you.
It is not healthy, good, or OK to question your faith as a Christian [that is, to question the legitimacy of the Word]. Just look at John 1:1 KJV, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
I love this scripture because it tells us the Word was God; so when you question your faith or question the accuracy of the Bible, you are also questioning God.
As Paul says in Romans 9:20 NIV, But who are you, a human, to talk back to God?
In other words: Who are you to question God?
Who do you think you are, to assume the Bible must make sense to you?
To question the Word is to place yourself in a position of judgement over the Word—this means you have limited the all-powerful Word of God to the capacity of your own understanding. And when you limit something that is all-power and all-knowing to the size of your own knowledge and understanding, you will find it difficult to believe in anything.
This may come as a shock to some of you, but there is a secret about God that you must know and accept in order to fully grasp His true power:
GOD IS SMARTER THAN YOU
If you could understand everything about God, He wouldn’t be God. If you could figure out everything He does and why He does it and how He does it, then what makes Him any better than you? Might as well have just created your own universe and made up your own rules, right?
We serve God as Christians because we don’t understand everything about Him. Because we can’t explain how He walks on water, calms the raging storms, brings people back to life, or gives up His own life for people who will turn and wonder whether He was ever really alive!
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Remember that? Faith is assurance about what we do not see. If we could see all the answers and all the solutions to every problem we’d ever face, there would be no point in faith or hope or trust. It is because you cannot see, and you cannot fully understand God that makes Him worthy of praise. Do you understand what I’m trying to say here, my friend?
Now, don’t get me wrong; our human brains are limited to understanding the depth of God’s power—but that doesn’t mean you won’t ever be able to understand the Bible. Do not use my words as an excuse not to read or study your Word. The Bible is not inconsistent or inaccurate, just because you don’t understand something or you can’t quite catch on to the new topic at Bible study doesn’t mean there is something wrong with the Word or that there is no point in trying to learn.
Sit down, take the time and have the patience to dive into the Word of God. Spend time with the Lord; the more you get to know Him, the more His wisdom will be shared with you. And don’t be frustrated if it seems like you can’t understand right away, learning takes time—some people take more time than others, but there is nothing that God can’t do. He can bless you with a mind of understanding, He can share His wisdom with you if you’ll just ask Him and have the patience to wait for a reply.