or your local bookstore.
helping and yet struggling—a deepening faith
Posted by jankern on February 13, 2008
Maybe you’re helping others understand and grow in their faith, but you’re struggling with your own.
God. Jesus. Faith. Questions. Doubts.
Is God there? Does he care about me?
Do I know what I believe? Do I want to pursue knowing?
See your doubts and questions as opportunities to move deeper into the story God is unfolding for your life, deeper into a hope that is unshakeable. It’s part of the journey. Taken well, you’ll more likely be in a stronger place to help someone else who is asking the hard—but good—questions about God and their faith.
Consider this . . .
Whether you’re new at getting to know God or very familiar with his loving presence, doubts are bound to occasionally sneak in. It’s okay to be uncertain, to be hesitant, to ask honest questions, and to wonder. In those moments, when your faith trembles, Jesus doesn’t disappear. He draws near.
Think of your doubt as an opportunity, a gift—like a lavender-scented invitation to journey toward deeper faith. Open it. Take all the questions tumbling around in your heart and allow the search to begin. Go where you can meet the true Jesus—to others who have known God long and well, to places of worship that love and honor his words.
Take the journey and don’t stop, no matter how steep the climb. Ask your questions, no matter how difficult they seem. Jesus can survive your honest examination. He always has, and he always will.
And those questions that linger—see those as gifts too. Let them prod you toward the beauty of believing without seeing, of certainty, birthed in the depths of the heart, that only comes by God’s Spirit.
You’ll find what faith in Jesus is all about. Discover him; then discover him some more.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. James 4:8 (HCSB)
Excerpted from Take A Closer Look, For Women, by Jan Kern, pg. 183
