I’ve always had doubts that there may or may not be a God. Is this normal for young Christians? I appreciate any answers.
Doubts.
- Thread starter Rylan Moffitt
- Start date
-
Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.
You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
quietthinker
Well-Known Member
It's quiet simple Rylan.....this is what the scriptures says..... 'Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6
If you have doubts of Gods existence what does the term 'Christian mean to you?
Some people wonder if there is a God. Some are convinced of his existence and have no doubts. I have never doubted that God exists (although there have been times when I wondered if he cared about me) so I can't fully understand what it feels like to be a doubter.
God has promised that he will be found by anyone who seeks him with his full heart. If you really want to know God and are willing to obey him he will reveal to you that he exists.
If you want to know what it is like to doubt God and then find him perhaps you should read Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis. In the book Lewis describes how he was raised to believe in God, lost his faith and became an atheist, and then realized that God did exist and became a Christian.
God has promised that he will be found by anyone who seeks him with his full heart. If you really want to know God and are willing to obey him he will reveal to you that he exists.
If you want to know what it is like to doubt God and then find him perhaps you should read Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis. In the book Lewis describes how he was raised to believe in God, lost his faith and became an atheist, and then realized that God did exist and became a Christian.
Cristo Rei
Well-Known Member
Hi Rylan and welcome to the forum...
When i was a teen i walked away from God and rejected His existence.
After about 10 years of being an Atheist i found myself lost in a very dark place, so i started taking another path, calling myself Agnostic
It took another 10 years for me to have full faith that God exists... Looking back I wish I had never lost my faith...
Can i ask what it is that gives you doubts about God's existence?
Prayer Warrior
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum!
I don't think that this is necessarily abnormal, but you need to know why you are having these doubts. I can tell you what it sounds like to me. Sounds like the devil is getting in your head. When he gets in my head, I ask God to show me why. Usually, but not always, what I find is that I've opened a door.
There was a time as a new Christian that I had horrible doubts about my salvation. No matter what I did, these doubts plagued me. I was in constant fear of not being saved and going to hell. This went on for almost 2 years until I spoke to my pastor's wife. She told me it was the devil and gave me a copy of the Warfare Prayer, which is based on the Bible. I prayed it everyday, sometimes many times a day, and it changed everything for me.
You can find this prayer and other helps here: https://www.cru.org/content/dam/cru/legacy/2012/02/Spiritual_Warfare_Prayer.pdf
I pray that the Holy Spirit will show you everything you need to know so that you can overcome your doubts and have strong faith and peace.
Last edited:
It is human to doubt occasionally, especially when the going gets tough. But don't let anybody tell you that you aren't allowed to doubt. Thomas doubted and Jesus didn't condemn him. The thing is to tell God you are doubting and ask for assurance and remember all the times you have absolutely had no doubt. It is a trick of the enemy to cause doubt to form in the minds of believers. When I have doubts which I sometimes do, I remember a word God gave me as a fairly new Christian and the doubts fly away. Just don't let the doubts overwhelm you.
This is a beautiful... honest... and thoughtful answer... I... like @theophilus have never doubted that God exists... but I have doubted whether HE loves me... and that has been my biggest struggle... I have been convinced in recent years that HE does very much care for me... and that I am part of the ALL that is mentioned in John 3:16... This knowledge has served to bring me closer to the heart of our FATHER.
Nancy
Well-Known Member
Amen A.
Same here, always knew that He existed but, sometime struggle over His love for me too. Just can't fathom it!
I don't think it's that uncommon. It is better to know when you don't know something than to talk yourself into thinking you know when you don't. Many people (including Christians) can go astray when they think they know when they don't. I was over 40 before I knew for sure.
Some also tell themselves, "God would let me know for sure if He wanted me to know He exists." They fail a test if they then think they can sin and get away with it. They failed a test big-time. God sometimes has His reasons for hiding from us. Look how old Job was before he got his answers.
“Maybe some random dude just wrote the bible as like a novel, and it became a religion” is one key thing that I think off frequently.
quietthinker
Well-Known Member
Well Rylan, some random dude didn't knock up the bible...thats a fact. If you are interested in how the scriptures came together you might do a search online.
The Bible is divided into two sections, the Old and New Testament. Combined they are a collection of 66 books written by many authors over approximately 1500 yrs.......these writers were God inspired.
There's some information for starters!
It is the Story of God's dealings with men and his plan to save them from death. This is known as the Plan of Salvation or The Plan of Redemption.
Familiarising yourself with these writings is helpful if you want to understand the broader story of Redemption. A good place to start are the Gospels.....Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are an account of the life of Jesus recorded by four writers.
The Old Testament writings are the story of Creation, the early Patriarchs and that of the Hebrews; the children of Israel from which came the Prophets.
I could go on but this will give you a basic overview.
Cristo Rei
Well-Known Member
Hahaha guess what, i used to think that as well.
The post above is right, its not a novel but there are some bible stories that are hard to believe.
There are talking animals, prophets doing all kinds of magic and some tall sounding tales...
I can only speak subjectively from my own experience here, ok.
The Bible played a part in me turning from God, there are just so many thing to believe in there.
I reached the stage in my life when i believed in God but it was without any other attachments like the bible. My thoughts were;
"I believe there is a God. I don't know if its the God from this holy book or if the stories in the books are true. I just believe there is a God"
So it might be an idea to forget about the bible and have a good hard think and research about the likely hood of God existing, the alternative suggestions to God. Science doesn't disprove God nor can they explain how life came about.
Atheists will say "I don't believe in God" but they have no evidence of that. If you ask them why they say because Christians can't prove it
But this is a logical fallacy. As an agnostic i would say
Christians can't prove that God exists therefore he doesn't exist
Atheists can't prove that God doesn't exist therefore he does exist.
These arguments are not logical...
I guess what im suggesting is to take the question of God on its own.
If you can't prove that he is false then u can't rule out the possibility that he exists
God will call out for you but if u have the door locked it will be hard to hear him.
So, always leave the door of possibility unlocked cos u will either enter it one day to seek or he will call you
Peace be with you
I was brought up in a Christian church and it didn't take at the time. Years later when I decided to read the Bible, I started off not knowing if any of it was inspired. I didn't approach it that way. I didn't start off believing it was all inspired. For all I knew, the Jews could be right and only the Old Testament was. For all I knew, some books might be and others might not. I find it interesting then when most Protestants begin with the idea that the Catholic Church got the list of books right.
So I approached it book by book. Nothing clicked until I reached Psalm 15. "Something" clicked, and I told me, "If there is a God, this is what He would want from me." At first, it looked simple. Even then, I remained uncertain if the Jews or Christians were right. I did realize that despite that Psalm making it look easy, I couldn't do it on my own. Then I knew where the idea of Messiah came from. I would need help. I still didn't know if the Jews or Christians were right about Messiah.
Over time, things began to fit together for me. I don't wish to discourage anyone, but I never reached the conclusion that the entire Bible is without errors. I can see some errors here and there. The Jews even say some of their books contain errors. Does it matter? Not that much.
I figure now maybe some tares got sown in with the wheat when it came to how the Bible got put together. There are simply things in some places that can't be true since they contradict other parts.
My rule is takem from what Jesus said, that all the Law and Prophets are about love. Love God and love your neighbor. If I can see the love in a passage, then I feel confident I'm probably right. If I can't see the love in it, maybe I'm stupid -- or maybe it's not inspired. I don't base my beliefs on such passages. If there is fiction in the Bible (and Ithink parts of it are, must be because of the contradictions), they don't harm me. If there are outright lies, they can't harm me, not as long as I am faithful to the idea that I must base my life on love and that the Bible is there to teach me how better to love. If there is any poison in it, it cannot harm me.
Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Behold
Well-Known Member
Look all around you, outside.
See all Creation?
Did it create itself?
Thats not possible, Rylan Moffitt.
Did you notice that Winter ends and Spring begins, and Autumn - Fall comes and goes so that Winter starts again.
This is not an accident that happens every year.
Did you ever wonder why the Sun is just far enough away so that you dont burn up, and just close enough so that it warms the earth and helps it to grow green and beautiful?
God is the reason.
Maybe one day the Devil will send to you a really clever devil. An atheist.
He will say...>"you can't prove that God exists.".
So, just smile and say...."And you can't prove He doesn't".
Then remind them that..."if God isn't there , why are you so opposed to what you say isn't there"??
If they need more, and some do.....
Tell them..... "have you ever seen a Red Rose"?
Well, all the science, and all the scientist, and all the tech related to science, can't create a Rose of any color from NOTHING.
They can grow a Rose. They can Hybrid a Rose. They can clone a Rose. But they can't create a Rose from NOTHING.
A.) God already did.
historyb
Well-Known Member
Doubts are a part of life. It's not the thoughts that are the problem it's what we do with them.
