Resources for Facing Doubt

If you joined us for part 1 of “Monsters Under the Bed,” you know that we dealt with faith and doubt and our fear of that doubt. I shared with you my own struggle and the disappointing, disillusioning response I found. I felt like I had found a broken recording that kept repeating, “Just believe.” A few years ago, I heard Tim Keller say something that was liberating. “No one ‘just believes.’  We believe because.” And I did. I believed because I finally found some answers to nagging questions. I found a support system of folks with similar struggles who were willing to help me find answers to my questions, and it still culminated in my need for a decision. I had to decide I was going to trust, to put my faith in Christ, just as I had to put my faith in a woman who demonstrated the character and affection that I was willing to trust when I married her.

So, where do we turn when we need answers to more complex questions? First, you must take your Bible in hand. If you’re trying to answer tough questions and you haven’t read the Bible, you have already handicapped yourself. This may sound simplistic, but so often when we are wrestling with questions, we haven’t even looked at God’s self-disclosure. This should always be the first step. Then, we look for resources that help us understand God’s ancient self-disclosure. Some things are very apparent. Others are steeped in the culture of 2,000 years ago, and we struggle to connect with that. It doesn’t make it any less true; it just recognizes that we think and operate differently today than a group of fishermen and tax collectors operated back then.

What are some of those resources? These have been very helpful to ME!

• Tim Keller’s Reason for God and Making Sense of God are two very helpful but challenging books.
• I have found incredible insight in Jim Denison’s “Denison Forum” and his resources page provides dozens of articles that are easier to understand than most others that I have seen.
• Another resource that has been helpful is William Craig Lane’s Reasonable Faith website.  Atheists aren’t the only ones who have given very careful thought and research to these issues, but often our media voices make it sound as if that isn’t the case.

But for any of you who have struggled with doubt, I encourage you to fight through it with good, intellectual work. All too often I have seen people who had their confidence shaken and refused to do any reading, deep thinking, or seeking out help. They missed the opportunity to solidify their faith because they refused to invest any energy in that effort. I hope you won’t make that same choice.

I’m grateful to have had my own painful experience for one reason: it softened my heart toward other people who have journeyed in the land of doubt. Today, my faith in Christ is more grounded than it ever would have been because I had to wrestle so laboriously, and I hunger to help others walk through those difficult questions and find the solid ground on the other side of that journey!