Can You Believe in God and Still Have Serious Doubts?

September 29th, 2025
by John Erickson

Psalm 73 and bringing honest questions into the presence of God

By Pastor John Erickson

Can I tell you something that might surprise you?

I've struggled with doubt in my faith.

Not just the occasional little question that goes away after you read a verse. I'm talking about genuine intellectual questions, experiences that don't seem to fit what I believe, and moments when I wonder whether I've understood things correctly.

There have been times when I have sat in my car, looked toward heaven, and wondered whether the things I have devoted my life to are actually true. That is not a comfortable admission for a pastor. But pretending it never happens would not help anyone.

I remember asking hard questions in a high-school Sunday school class. The person answering did not seem to know what to do with me and eventually told me it sounded like I had a faith problem. I did not need someone to panic. I needed room to ask.

I think some Christians feel like they're not supposed to admit that.

We come to church, sing about God's goodness, and hear people speak with great confidence. If you're not feeling that same certainty, it's easy to wonder whether something is wrong with you.

That's part of why I love Psalm 73.

The Psalm Begins with a Statement That Sounds Settled

Psalm 73 opens with an affirmation: God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

That's the sort of sentence you'd expect to hear in worship. It sounds strong and confident.

And then the writer, Asaph, makes a startling turn.

He says that as for him, his feet had almost slipped. He had nearly lost his foothold.

Wait a second. Didn't he just say God was good?

He did. But now he's telling us that what he's experiencing makes the statement much harder to believe.

He looks around and sees arrogant, wicked people prospering while he struggles. Things don't seem fair. The world doesn't look the way he thinks it should if God is good.

And he says so.

Faith Isn't Just Information in Your Head

We sometimes treat doubt as a problem caused by not knowing enough facts.

Learn another argument. Read another book. Find another answer. All of that can be useful, but human beings aren't just brains in jars.

Our beliefs and our experiences are deeply connected.

You may know intellectually that God is loving, but still struggle to believe it after a painful loss. You may believe God cares about justice while watching someone cruel appear to succeed.

The tension isn't always that you forgot some information. Sometimes the life you're living feels completely at odds with what you've been taught.

That's where Asaph finds himself.

And the Bible doesn't edit his struggle out of the story.

He Nearly Loses His Foothold

I love the image Asaph uses: his feet almost slipped.

Think about that. You don't usually describe a pleasant walk around the neighborhood that way. You picture somebody on unstable ground, scrambling to keep from falling.

I remember our family climbing a sand dune at Pacific City on the Oregon Coast. The walk along the firm, wet beach felt easy. Then we reached the hill.

At first, you think you will be at the top in three minutes. A little farther up, you revise that to, Well, at least I will not stop. Then you stop. Then you decide you will not sit down. Before long, you are sitting there hoping you can get up again.

Your foot digs into the sand, and the sand slides back beneath you. You are working hard, but progress does not feel very impressive.

That's a good picture of some seasons of faith.

You are moving. You are trying. But the ground feels unstable.

Asaph doesn't pretend he's standing confidently on a perfectly paved road. He tells the truth about how close he came to slipping.

The Turning Point Is Nearness to God

The psalm doesn't turn because Asaph suddenly discovers a neat explanation for every injustice he's seen.

It turns when he enters God's sanctuary and begins to see his situation from a different perspective.

His attention shifts from the immediate prosperity of the wicked to the larger reality of their lives and his relationship with God.

And by the end, Asaph says something beautiful: being near God is good.

Notice the change. At the beginning, he states that God is good. By the end, he speaks about the goodness of drawing near to God.

That isn't just an argument he has won. It's a relationship he has returned to.

I think that's important because we sometimes imagine that every season of doubt will end with a perfectly satisfying explanation. Sometimes we learn helpful answers. Sometimes questions remain.

But the psalm shows us that we can bring our questions into our relationship with God instead of treating them as a reason to walk away.

Don't Face Your Doubts Alone

When we struggle, our instincts can lead us toward isolation.

We stop praying. We stop gathering with other Christians. We feel embarrassed to admit what we're thinking. We worry that honest questions will disappoint people.

But isolation has a way of making difficult things heavier.

After a five-day business trip to New Brunswick, Canada, I came home to Gina and the kids. We had talked while I was away, but talking here and there was different from being together.

It would have been strange to come home, announce that we felt distant, and solve that by leaving again. We needed time together.

That picture does not answer every question of faith. It does remind me that when a relationship matters, distance is not always healed by creating more distance.

You make room for conversation. You tell the truth. You spend time together, even if everything isn't resolved.

Our relationship with God can involve that kind of honesty too. So can our relationships with trusted believers who are willing to hear our questions without panicking.