Help! I Have Doubts
Key Takeaways
- Many Christians struggle with doubt in the christian life while hiding their questions behind a smile out of fear of judgment from fellow church members.
- In Psalm 42:9, the writer brings his unresolved tension directly to God, calling Him his rock while honestly asking why He feels forgotten.
- Ancient Israel actually put their doubts to music and sang them together in public worship, proving that questioning is a normal part of faith.
- When Holly finally voiced her hidden questions, her faith didn't collapse; instead, she came out of hiding and grew closer to Jesus.
- A practical step for dealing with doubt in the christian life is to write down your question and share it with one safe, trusted person this week.
You smile through the sermon with a question you've never told anyone. Learn what Psalm 42:9 does that verse 3 doesn't, and what Asaph was afraid of.
Some Christians have been in the same pew for years with a question they've never said to another living person. You smile through the sermon. You handle the small talk in the lobby. And the whole time there's something you've been turning over that you're afraid to say to anybody who might think less of you for it. You could probably point to the person you're afraid of, somebody two rows up who would look at you differently afterward.
This episode opens with Holly and her husband Zach, who spent about two years going to church like everything was fine while both of them were full of questions about God and the Bible they were terrified to admit. They'd gotten the message that good Christians don't ask those things.
Psalm 42:3 was written by a man in that position: "Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'" Start with where he is. Verse 4 says his heart is breaking as he remembers walking among the crowds of worshipers and leading a procession to the house of God, so he's writing from outside the building. The taunt in verse 3 is other people's words aimed at him, and verse 10 says they come back around and break his bones. Voices like that are how a man learns to keep his mouth shut.
Then go to verse 9, because that's the part your situation needs. He says it anyway. O God my rock, I cry, why have you forgotten me. He calls God his rock and accuses God of forgetting him inside one sentence. The tension was unresolved when he opened his mouth, and he brought both halves of it to God anyway.
Asaph did the same thing in Psalm 73, and he tells you exactly what he was afraid of. Verse 15 says that if he had really said it, he would have been a traitor to God's people. The people he was afraid of were God's own.
Here's the part that ought to settle it. Look at the heading over Psalm 42. For the choir director. That psalm was handed to the man in charge of the music, and Israel sang it in public worship. Asaph was David's chief musician, so Psalm 73 went the same route. God's people put their doubts to music and sang them together on purpose.
Bart shares his own version of it, what goes on in him when somebody brings him a doubt, along with why he wants people to tell him.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
What verse 9 does that verse 3 doesn't, and why your situation needs both What Asaph was afraid of when he kept his doubt to himself The detail in Psalm 42's heading that answers whoever told you good Christians don't ask
Here's the practical step. Write the question down in your own words, the way it sounds in your head when nobody else is listening. Then pick one person, somebody who has been a Christian long enough to have had a few questions of their own and who has never once made you feel small. Go say it to them this week while it's still unresolved, because that's the only version you've got. And if you're the one somebody comes to, remember that whatever is obvious to you took you a while.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a sin to have doubt in the christian life?
No, experiencing doubt in the christian life is a normal part of the spiritual journey. Biblical figures like the psalmist in Psalm 42 and Asaph in Psalm 73 brought their honest questions and raw emotions directly to God without condemnation.
How should I handle doubt in the christian life?
Instead of hiding your questions, write them down honestly and share them with one trusted, mature Christian who will listen without making you feel small. Bringing your doubts into the open is the only way to effectively work through them.
What does the Bible say about doubt in the christian life?
The Bible includes raw expressions of pain and questioning, such as Psalm 42, which was handed to the choir director for Israel to sing in public worship. This shows that God's people have always processed their struggles communally rather than hiding them.
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both of them were full of questions about God and the
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Bible that they were terrified to admit to others. They'd
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gotten the message that good Christians don't ask those
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things, so they didn't, and the hiding wore on them. The truth
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was, they couldn't keep it up. One day, Holly stopped
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pretending and said it out loud. We'll come back to what happened
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when she did, but
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first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
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Bart Leger. I tend to have an initial reaction when somebody
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brings me a doubt. My first reaction is sometimes to wonder
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how they could doubt a thing that seems so obvious to me, and
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then I catch myself. It's over pretty quickly because I
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remember something. What looks obvious to me now, some things
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took years to work out, and I didn't get there in an afternoon.
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and what I take for granted today, I was once wrestling with.
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So, when somebody tells me they're doubting, I want them to
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tell me. That's the only way anybody deals with a doubt. You
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can't work on a thing that's being hidden. And here's what
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I'd say to any church. A person who admits a doubt usually wants
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to work through it. They go ahead and ask, which is more
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than the ones who just stopped coming ever do. Treating them
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like something is wrong with them is how you lose them. Some
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Christians have been in the same pew for years with a question
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they've never said to another living person. You smile through
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the sermon, you handle the small talk in the lobby, and the whole
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time there's something you've been turning over, that you're
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afraid to say to anybody who might think less of you for it.
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And you could probably point to the person you're afraid of.
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Somebody two rows up who would look at you differently
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afterward. There's a song in the Bible written by a man in that
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position. Psalm 42, 3. Day and night. I have only tears for
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food. While my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
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Where is this God of yours? Now, start with where the man is.
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Verse 4 says his heart is breaking as he remembers how it
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used to be when he walked among the crowds of worshipers and led
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a procession to the house of God. He's writing from outside the
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building, remembering the middle of a crowd he isn't standing in
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anymore. Then look at the taunt itself. Where is this God of
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yours? Those are other people's words aimed at him. Verse 10
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says, They come back around and break his bones. The pressure on
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him is coming from voices. And voices like that are how a
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person learns to keep their mouth shut. Now go to verse 9.
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He says it anyway. O God, my rock, I cry. Why have you
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forgotten me? Look at what he does. He calls God his rock and
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accuses God of forgetting him. The tension was unresolved when
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he opened his mouth and he brought both halves of it to God
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anyway. Asaph did the same thing in Psalm 73 and he tells you
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exactly what he's afraid of. He had been thinking that keeping
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his heart pure had gotten him nothing. Then comes verse 15. If
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I had really said that, I would have been a traitor to your
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people. The people he was afraid of were God's own people. Now
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here's the part that ought to settle it. Look at the heading
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over Psalm 42 for the choir director.
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Asaph was David's chief musician. So Psalm 73 went the same route.
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God's people put their doubts to music and sang them together on
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purpose. So whoever taught you that good Christians don't ask
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those questions was working against that hymn book. So find
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one person. One picked on purpose. Pick somebody who has
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been a Christian long enough to have had a few questions of
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their own and who has never once made you feel less than. Then
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tell that one person and keep it between the two of you for now.
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It didn't go smoothly at first. When Holly finally voiced her
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questions to the group, some people pulled back and a few
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made her feel like a heretic for asking. For a while, she even
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wondered if something was wrong with her. By getting it out of
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the open, it started something. Holly and Zach came out of
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hiding for good. They found other believers who loved Jesus
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and weren't scared of the big questions. And they started
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meeting with another couple, working through the same things.
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They'll tell you their faith didn't collapse when they
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stopped pretending. Instead, it grew. They ended up closer to
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Jesus than they were back when they had, they thought, all the
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right answers and none of the honesty. Now, what she had to
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live through to get there. Some pulled back and a few handled
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her badly. She still came out with a faith that had grown,
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which tells you that the asking was worth what it cost her.
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Here's today's challenge. Write the question down in your own
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words, the way it sounds in your head when nobody else is
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listening. Then pick your one person and go and let them know
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this week. Tell them. Say it while it's still unresolved,
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because that's the only version you've got right now. the one
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somebody comes to, remember where you started. Whatever is
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obvious to you right now took you a while. Father, you let a
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man write down that his tears were his food and that people
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kept asking him who you were, and then you had it set to music
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and sung in public. Thank you that you never asked anybody to
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clean up their questions before bringing them to you. For
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everybody listening who has been in the same pew for years with
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something they've never said, give them one safe person this
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week and the nerve to use them. Keep our churches the kind of
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place where a question gets a safe hearing. In Jesus' name,
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amen. If this episode encouraged you today, would you share it
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with someone who might need to hear it? Just go to
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DailyDevotionsForBusyLives.com slash 364 and copy the link. It
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only takes a second, and it might make a difference in
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someone's day. Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions
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for Busy Lives. Remember, Psalm 42 was handed to the choir
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director, which means Israel sang its doubts out loud
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together. Pick your one person this week. Come back next time
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for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth.
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Until then, God bless and have a great day. Thank you.
