Doubt can be a good thing

I have doubts. I even have doubts about my faith. I’m not afraid to admit this, because I think that doubts can be a good thing.

The push back could be, but surely we are meant to be 100% certain and to doubt is to admit we are not 100% certain?

But at the end of the day what are doubts? To doubt is to question, and there is nothing wrong with questions.

The Scriptures are full of men and women asking questions. Look at the Psalms and you find lots of questions:

My soul is in deep anguish.
    How long, Lord, how long?

Psalm 6:3

Look at Jesus on the cross:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46

If our Saviour is willing to ask a question of God the Father, then I don’t think that we can conclude that questions are bad, wrong, or the product of unfaithfulness.

I think doubts can be good if they are said in the right posture. A posture of humility. A posture that does not deny God is God, and we are not. But instead accepts His Divine Reality, and asks for help, and explanation. This is a posture of kneeling in prayer.

The opposite posture is one of pride. It is a posture of (metaphorically) standing over God demanding an answer and threatening to walk out if you don’t get it. It is a posture that considers “me” to be of greater important than the Divine.

I’ve asked questions from this posture of pride. I had to repent. I don’t think there was anything wrong with my question, but I think there was everything wrong with my attitude.

Doubts can be good. So repent if you’ve asked them from a place of pride. Keep asking questions if it is from a place of humility.