Is It Normal For Christians to Experience Doubt?

Yes, it is completely normal for Christians to experience periods of doubt in their spiritual life.

Everyone has doubted at one time or another, even pastors, theologians, and significant figures in the Bible. It doesn’t feel good to have doubt, but it isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

And it isn’t a sin.

Doubt actually has a purpose. It means you aren’t blindly accepting your beliefs—you’re exploring them, thinking about them, and challenging them, which in the end can make your faith even stronger.

It’s what we do with doubt that’s key.

We’ll be talking about all these things to understand more about doubt itself and how to respond to it. We’ll go over:

• What “doubt” actually means
• Doubt as a common experience
• What can lead to doubt
• When doubt becomes something to worry about
• How we can respond to our doubts

Let’s start with a definition.

What “doubt” actually means

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Doubt in a spiritual sense is “to waver or fluctuate in opinion; to hesitate; to be in suspense; to be in uncertainty, respecting truth or fact; to be undetermined.”¹

Basically, doubt means we’re hesitating. It’s a signal that we may not be ready to jump all in yet on a doctrine, a belief, or a different perspective. We want to test it first.

This can feel like an uncomfortable position to be in, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Having doubt is actually a vital component of our faith. Roger W. Coon, PhD, points out,

“It is abundantly clear that were God to remove all opportunity or occasion for us to doubt, He would, also, simultaneously, remove from us all opportunity to exercise faith!” (emphasis original).²

Doubt is part of the process of building faith. If we don’t have doubt—or the opportunity to challenge our beliefs—our beliefs are shallow and unstable. We don’t have a basis to defend them, even to ourselves.

It can show us where a building block might be missing in our belief framework.

Doubt is also recognized in the field of psychology. Carl Jung said, “[D]oubt and insecurity are indispensable components of a complete life.”³

Doubt, then, isn’t an enemy. And we don’t need to resist it.

It’s also important to note that having doubts doesn’t mean we’ve lost our faith.

Tim Mackie, PhD, co-founder of the Bible Project, reminds us that doubt is “encountering and examining a different set of beliefs. It’s belief vs. belief, not belief vs. unbelief.”⁴

It’s not about losing your beliefs; it’s about exploring and entertaining different ones and comparing them to the truths found in the Bible.

Having doubt even while having faith is possible. A man in the Bible, who wanted healing for his child cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, NKJV). He wasn’t giving up or even letting his doubt stop him from taking a leap of faith. He was simply admitting to Jesus where he was in his faith. This is typical of doubt and it’s perfectly fine.

Sometimes we may need to take apart our beliefs to see where they need to be examined or developed further.

This is where doubt has a role and a function.

Doubt has a purpose

Having doubts can show us where our beliefs might be underdeveloped or inaccurate. Or, it could even end up showing us how strong and important a belief is to us.

Doubt is a functional part of our belief framework. It helps show us which parts might be weaker or need more support, and which parts are strong and well-founded. So it helps us determine how to keep growing, learning, and maturing.

But what about those Bible verses that talk about not doubting?⁵

Take the story when Peter walks on the sea out to Jesus and begins to sink because he doubts. Jesus asked him: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31, NKJV).

This seems like Jesus is saying doubt is a bad thing. Almost like he’s getting after Peter for losing his faith.

But Peter had demonstrated great faith a few verses earlier when he stepped out onto the water. As soon as Jesus told him to come out to Him, Peter didn’t hesitate!

He didn’t lose his faith but got sidetracked by the storm. Peter’s belief in the possibility of drowning overwhelmed his faith in walking with Jesus on the water.

When Jesus asked why he doubted, He was asking Peter what the problem was—what caused him to feel overpowered by the storm.

But notice how Jesus didn’t leave him at the mercy of his doubts. When Peter sank and cried out for help, Jesus grabbed his hand, pulled him back up, and walked back to the boat with him.

This story beautifully illustrates how God works with us when our doubts challenge our faith. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed, but God doesn’t leave us to be swallowed up. Instead, he holds out His hand and desires to help us trust Him more.

It’s also important to remember that faith is a process. Throughout the Gospel accounts, Jesus tells His disciples that having even the faith of a tiny mustard seed would enable them to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Faith is powerful, even if you don’t have a lot. And like a mustard seed, it can grow bigger and get stronger.

The point is you don’t have to have perfect faith to serve God or to represent or reflect Him. The Bible is loaded with “heroes” who struggled with doubts and discouragement. We’ll look at some patriarchs, leaders, and prophets whose faith wasn’t perfect all the time, yet they accomplished incredible feats through the power of God.

Doubt happens to all of us. What matters is that we don’t cling to them instead of Jesus. We don’t need to give our doubts power over us.

Doubt is a common experience—even in the Bible

If you’re currently having some spiritual doubts, you’re in good company. A Barna study found that 65% of American adults identifying as Christian experience a period of doubt at some point.⁶

That’s four of those six people sitting in the front pew at church.

Doesn’t make you feel so alone anymore, does it?

Knowing that so many people go through similar feelings and thoughts can be encouraging.

Even better, that same Barna study found that of those experiencing doubt, 81-95% of them (as active church-goers) came out of that period with a strengthened faith.⁷

Which is why those four people are still in that church pew.

In fact, some of the greatest figures in Scripture went through tremendous periods of doubt:

• Thomas the apostle, known in this popular Bible doubt story as “Doubting Thomas,” wouldn’t believe Jesus rose from the dead until he saw Jesus in the flesh (John 20:25). Yet Jesus didn’t dismiss his doubt or condemn him for it.
• Abraham seriously doubted God’s promise to make him a father of nations because he and Sarah were too old to have a child (Genesis 17:17).
• Moses doubted he could convince Pharaoh to let Israel go. In fact, he doubted so strongly that he gave God three excuses why he shouldn’t be picked for the mission (Exodus 3:11; 4:1, 10, 13).
• Gideon demanded that God perform multiple signs before he believed he was the chosen one to rescue Israel from the Midianites (Judges 6:15, 17, 36-40).
• David was incredibly distressed when he found Ziklag burned. He also penned numerous Psalms describing times of doubt (1 Samuel 30:4; Psalms 6, 13, and 38, for example).
• Elijah fled for his life because he doubted God could save him from Jezebel. This, right after he witnessed God’s miracle on Mt. Carmel! (1 Kings 18; 19:3-4)

These examples show us that doubt hits even those God hand-picks for His work. But God still provided for them and even gave them what they asked for. And all these doubters He used for amazing purposes. They did not lose their faith as a result—they grew even closer to God instead.

So let’s look more closely at what reveals doubt to us.

What can lead to doubt?

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Spiritual doubt can be revealed by a number of factors, including:

• Life circumstances—things that happen around you that you can’t control, revealing areas of your faith that haven’t been challenged
• Unexpected experiences that would have been impossible to plan for
• Toxic relationships that can shake our beliefs
• Fear when things look different than the way we feel they should be
• New thoughts, like reading a convincing article that contradicts one of your beliefs
• New perspectives, like hearing someone else’s reasoning for their belief
• Conflicting experiences, like when someone goes through the same thing as you but reacts very differently
• Conflicting information, such as someone coming to a different conclusion than you about the same concept, Bible verse, doctrine, norm, etc.
• Coming across a concept in the Bible you aren’t sure what to do with yet, which can make us doubt our understanding
• Spiritual warfare, as the devil would love it if we have any doubts he can use to distract or discourage us.

Anything that presents a need to adjust our framework for understanding things has the potential to reveal doubt.
And yes, it’s usually an uncomfortable process.

And while one of these factors can be the catalyst for your doubt, it’s often a combination of factors that gradually builds up to the tipping point.

Mackie compares doubt to a lake being fed by many streams and rivers.⁸ A combination of things and situations, both large and small, feed into the lake that makes up the resulting doubts we have.

Sometimes, though, doubt can go beyond this and become harmful. How do we know when this has happened?

When doubt becomes something to worry about

Doubt can become a problem when we regard it to be more than what its purpose is—a signal to test and investigate.

Elevating doubt in our minds and giving it more authority than our faith, obsessing over it, or refusing to acknowledge it—this is what can damage our faith.

And if it halts us from growing or causes us to give up on our belief without further exploration…that’s when this has become a problem.

At this point, it’s important to recognize that our doubts are no longer just simply doubts. They have become a destructive thought process. It can lead to a distrusting disposition, causing us to reflexively question people’s motives and sincerity, to assume guilt before innocence, etc. Left unchecked, this path can lead to consistent pessimism, cynicism, or depression.

These harmful psychological states can cause physical and mental health problems.⁹

They can also lead someone to reject truth altogether or become fixated on details that can make the big picture foggy. This happened to many religious leaders in Jesus’s day. They were more concerned about tithing spices than the “weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23, NKJV).

In other words, they gravitated toward the concrete, measurable things…not because they mattered more, but because they were easier to track and to prove.

When our doubts do become worrisome like this, that’s where prayer comes in. We might feel like Peter—we might feel like we’re sinking in our doubts and there’s no hope. That’s when we can reach out our hand and pray, and Jesus will be there for us to pull us up.

Don’t be worried if you can’t resolve your doubts right away. Ones so major and all-encompassing as spiritual doubts can take a long time to resolve, and there’s no shame in that. It takes as long as it takes.

The key is to not give up our search for truth just because we have a doubt.

Pray to God for guidance and seek help. Immersing yourself in Him and His Word will help you avoid spiraling out of control.

When our doubts are doing their proper job, then we can proceed with our examination and growth.

How we can respond to our doubts

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The best way we can overcome our doubts is to take action—don’t let them stew in your mind unchallenged!

Again, this could take a long time, even years. It may be difficult to do, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s important to give them our attention and prayerfully study them.

The Bible actually encourages us to test our beliefs.

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (1 Corinthians 13:5, NKJV).

 

“Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NKJV).

These verses validate our need to weigh new information against what we already believe.

If we do nothing about our doubt, it can grow in our mind like a tumor, allowing it to get out of control and start affecting other parts of our life. Instead, Mackie points out that we must be “skeptical of our skepticism.”¹⁰ When our doubts challenge our beliefs, that’s a signal to challenge our doubts back!

So the first thing we can do is to examine our doubts. Pray about them and ask the Holy Spirit for help. Think about why you started experiencing them. What factors contributed to their making? Is it fear? Are you overwhelmed with some new responsibilities? Did someone or something fail you? Did something tragic happen to you or a loved one?

Examining the cause helps us determine how to challenge the doubts. For example, we could:

• Study what the Bible says about the topic we’re struggling with (Proverbs 30:5). Think about how you came to the belief or concept you’re challenging. Did it depend on a passage being literal or symbolic? Were you misled or confused by hearsay or other people’s interpretations? Could there be multiple ways to apply a biblical concept than you originally realized?

• Talk to a trusted counselor or mentor, like a pastor, Christian family member, or another Christian you respect. Talking it out with them helps you organize your thoughts and they can give you advice to help you deal with the doubt.¹¹

• Calm the mind. Listen to encouraging music, a Bible podcast, or a sermon; go on a walk outside, etc. Activities like these can help you clear your mind and focus on constructive thoughts that can often get smothered by distractions.

If you have a community focused on worship, prayer, learning, and faith, immerse yourself in it. This could be your church, a group of peers, or family. These people can encourage and support you, pointing you toward Jesus as you investigate, adjust, and refine your beliefs.

The Barna study found that staying in this community was one of the key elements to overcoming doubt.

Doubts happen to almost everyone, no matter who you are.

They’re a healthy, built-in component of faith, challenging us to dig deeper into what we believe so that we can come out of our doubts with a stronger faith than ever before.

As you navigate through doubt, remember to pray about it. God always listens when we ask (Luke 11:9; Philippians 4:6). He will help us work through our struggles, and He’ll always be on our side.

Helpful Bible verses when you’re struggling with doubt:

• Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
• Jude 1:22. “And have mercy on those who doubt.”
• 1 Corinthians 13:5. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21. “Test all things; hold fast what is good”
• Psalm 50:15. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
• John 16:13. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.”
• 1 Peter 5:6-7. “…Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
• Matthew 19:26. “With God all things are possible.”

1. “Doubt,” KJV Dictionary. [↵]
2. Coon, Roger W, PhD. “The Danger of Doubt and the Nature of Faith,” Andrews University. [↵]
3. Beattie, Geoffrey. Doubt: A Psychological Exploration, Routledge, 2023. P.2. [↵]
4. Mackie, Tim. “Doubt,” Psalms Study, Exploring My Strange Bible, Bible Project, October 26, 2017. [↵]
5. Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23, Matthew 14:31,Luke 24:38, Romans 14:23, James 1:5-8 [↵]
6. “Two-Thirds of Christians Face Doubt,” Barna, July 25, 2017. [↵]
7. Ibid. [↵]
8. Mackie, “Doubt.” [↵]
9. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/emotions-dont-think/202302/cynicism-is-lethal-toxic-and-sometimes-fatal [↵]
10. Ibid. [↵]
11. “Two-Thirds of Christians Face Doubt.” [↵]

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