Dealing with doubts and what ifs

Fervr have released a new book for teens wrestling with doubt, so we asked author of What If?, Kristen Young about her own struggles with faith and doubt:

What have been your personal struggles with doubt?

Kristen: I think we all have struggles at one time or another. When we believe things that we can’t see – like Jesus coming to earth, his miracles and so on – there are always times when we can be made to doubt the truth of what we’ve heard. Like when someone loudly and angrily says, “Everything you believe about God is wrong!”, then you have that moment of doubt, like “Oh, are they right? Am I deluded about this?” It can be quite confronting when worldviews clash. One of the big struggles for me was when I first went to university. I was constantly bombarded with different ideas about people, the world and our place in it. It was a bit like having a rug pulled out from under your feet! That first time you hear someone say, “Well, of course everyone knows that all religions are the same,” and you think, “are they?” Or a science professor says, “Only imbeciles believe that God is real.” When these worldviews collide, you can really be knocked about.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 9.10.00 amWhy did you write this book?

I was seeing Christians struggling with their own faith in the face of opposition. In our ministry, we were hearing a lot of questions, but also a lot of unhelpful slogans, like “God is dead,” or “Jesus is like the tooth fairy.” Doubt caused a whole lot of stress for people. It was almost as if they felt that they had to know everything with 110 per cent certainty, or they were wrong. I wanted to help them to try and work through all the emotions they were feeling, and see that there was another way of dealing with it all.

Do you think teens have different anxieties about the Christian faith to adults?

buy the bookNo, not at all. I think the difference comes in the way the challenges and anxieties present to us. For example, a teenager’s first challenge to their faith might come from a non-believing teacher, or a hostile peer group. An adult might face the same challenges from work colleagues. The language might be different, but I think the challenges are the same: Is God real? Is Jesus who he said he is? Can I trust my life to God? What if I fail? Am I missing out on something? They’re the same anxieties, but they turn up in different clothes, if you like. 

Have any of your friends turned away from God because of doubt?

Doubts are often a sign that something else is going on – whether it be the worry of looking stupid, or the pain of suffering, or having unrealistic expectations of God, or even the temptation to replace God with some other passion. I haven’t had any friends give up on God just because of doubt. There’s always been a complex relationship between doubt and other things going on at the time. 

Who has helped you work through your doubts?

It might sound a bit strange, but I think God is the one who really helped me through it all. At those dark moments when I was struggling so hard, God would just help me to see something in his Word, or he would send along a faithful Christian at just the right time to help me understand and talk about what I was hearing. There were also intelligent people who’d been through the struggles before me, who helped me to see the truth or otherwise of what I was doubting. But all along, as I look back, I can see God’s hand helping me through the storm.

In what ways has the Bible itself increased your faith in God?

The Bible has helped me enormously. It is so different from any other book (or library in a book). When I’ve struggled, it’s reminded me that God is still in control. Sometimes I think we make decisions based on “majority rule” – that is, we’ll believe it’s true if everyone else does. But books like Daniel help you to see that throughout history, there have been other times when the majority got it hopelessly wrong. It’s encouraging to see that God is real and working and powerful even in these situations.

It’s also been helpful to see other people’s failures in the Bible – I know that sounds crazy! But take Peter. He was such a passionate bloke, but there was still that time when he faced questions and he totally caved on Jesus: “I don’t know the man!” The imperfect people that God uses to build his kingdom give me hope. The disciples saw Jesus calm a storm with his words, and their response wasn’t a cheesy hymn, it was, “Who is this man?” To be able to come through that uncertainty and then say as Thomas said, “My Lord and My God,” is such an encouragement. Ultimately, though, the Bible has given me Jesus. Of all the possible belief systems in the world, Jesus is solid and real and absolutely astounding. His life on earth, doing things that only God could do. But then his death – humiliating, broken and horrible death – and to say that he did that for his enemies? And he didn’t stay dead, but rose back to life? That’s completely mind-blowing! Nobody would make that stuff up. When everything seems haywire, I keep coming back to Jesus, and to what the Bible says about him. I know God is real because of Jesus. I know I can trust God because of Jesus. I know that God is with us because of Jesus. It all comes back to him.