When Doubt Sets In.

Possibly one of the most helpful things any professor has said during the past three years of my Bible college education is this:

"In the context of faith, there is always room for doubt."

The prof who said this is one whom I think many of my peers would agree with me in saying that he's one of the most knowledgeable and passionate professors we've got.

Sometimes you find yourself in one of those seasons wherein your huge bonfire for the Lord is more like a dimly lit candle. You're confused. You're questioning. You're trying to pray but you don't know what to say. You're starting to wonder 'is God actually good? is He listening to me? is He even there?!'

I know the feels, y'all. And that's why I'm writing this today. When my professor said the aforementioned quote, I felt like two heavy boulders had been lifted off of my shoulders. I'd always thought that as a Christian, if I doubted God in any sense, that was a huge sin. And I mean, it's true that it's hard for both faith and doubt to reside in the same capacity together, for one will snuff out the other. But doubting is okay (as long as it's temporary).

Allow me to be real with you for a hot second.

I've been doubting lately.

I've been trying to do what Romans 12:12 says, which is "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

 But fam, let's be real here!!! That is so hard sometimes all the time.

Sometimes you're going to feel like the psalmist in Psalm 42, saying "Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?" The same professor who taught me that doubt is okay also taught me that the Bible contains praise Psalms as well as lament Psalms because both are inevitable.

So what do you do when your soul is downcast, and you're finding it hard to have faith?

Replace the doubts with truth. It may not be easy, and you might not even believe what you're reading or hearing for awhile, but you must keep feeding truth to your soul so that doubt doesn't snuff out your candle while it is weak!

When I was thinking through my doubts at work the other day, this verse came to mind -- Hebrews 13:8.

Thinking of this verse comforted me, reminding me that even when I'm faithless, God is faithful. And for as long as this season of doubt remains, He won't let me go. He will hold onto me, love me, and patiently and gently call me back, reigniting my fire, instilling His truths within my heart.