Finding Courage to Trust God Anyway

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that doubt is dangerous—that if we have questions, somehow our faith has failed. But what if doubt isn’t the enemy of faith? What if it’s actually part of the journey toward bold faith?

The truth is simple and freeing: faith and doubt can coexist. In fact, they often do.

When Faith Meets Questions

Faith is not the absence of questions—it’s the courage to keep believing while we wrestle with them.

If you’ve ever sat awake at night asking, “God, where are You?” or wondered why your prayers seem to echo back in silence, you’re not faithless. You’re human.

Even in Scripture, some of the strongest believers struggled to reconcile faith and doubt.

• Thomas, one of Jesus’s disciples, refused to believe in the resurrection until he saw the scars for himself. But notice what Jesus did: He didn’t scold Thomas. He showed him. That moment turned Thomas from skeptic to missionary, traveling farther than any other disciple to share the gospel.
• Abraham was called the father of faith, yet he doubted God’s promise so deeply that he tried to fulfill it through his own plan with Hagar. Still, God kept His word and used Abraham’s life to show that His faithfulness isn’t dependent on our perfection.
• John the Baptist, the very man who baptized Jesus, later sat in prison questioning if Jesus was really the Messiah. His doubt didn’t disqualify him; Jesus called him the greatest born among women.

Doubt isn’t proof that your faith is weak. It’s often proof that your faith is alive—wrestling honestly, searching deeply, longing to understand God more.

Modern Stories of Honest Faith

In the 1800s, Florence Nightingale—known as the founder of modern nursing—often wrestled with doubt. In her journals, she confessed seasons of deep spiritual struggle, feeling abandoned by God in the face of suffering. Yet those questions didn’t drive her away from faith—they drove her into service. Her courageous care for the sick during war became a living testimony of faith expressed through action, not emotion.

More recently, Elisabeth Elliot wrote about her own seasons of confusion and grief after her husband’s death. She admitted that her prayers sometimes felt hollow, her faith unsure. But she chose obedience over certainty, writing, “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”

Both women show that bold faith doesn’t begin when doubt disappears—it begins when we trust God enough to bring Him our questions.

Why God Allows Doubt

If God wanted unquestioning robots, He would have created them. But He invites relationship—a faith that’s real, raw, and growing.

Doubt, when brought honestly to God, becomes a doorway to deeper faith. It strips away the easy answers and forces us to rely on who He is, not just what He does.

Just look at the Psalms. David’s prayers swing from confidence to confusion, from praise to panic—all within a few verses. Yet God called him a man after His own heart. Why? Because David brought both faith and doubt into the conversation.

When we hide our doubts, they grow in the dark. When we bring them into God’s light, they shrink in comparison to His truth.

How to Live Bold Faith in Seasons of Doubt

If you’re struggling with faith and doubt right now, you’re not less spiritual. You’re in good company. Here are a few ways to live courageously when questions come:

1. Be honest. God isn’t afraid of your doubt. Tell Him what you’re thinking, even if it’s messy.
2. Stay connected. Surround yourself with people who can hold faith for you when yours feels fragile.
3. Look back. Remember what God has done before. The same God who carried you then will carry you now.
4. Don’t stop showing up. Keep praying, reading, serving—especially when you don’t feel like it. Faith grows in obedience.
5. Invite God into the gap. Ask Him to meet you between what you know and what you feel. He always does.

Everyday Faith That Holds

Faith over fear sounds strong and confident, but real bold faith often looks quieter. It’s the woman who keeps praying even when her prayers feel unanswered. The man who still opens his Bible even when it feels dry. The teenager who chooses integrity even when she’s not sure anyone notices.

That’s courageous faith—not because it never wavers, but because it keeps walking even while it wrestles.

So, yes—faith and doubt can coexist. The presence of doubt doesn’t mean the absence of God. It may mean He’s closer than you think, inviting you deeper.

A Closing Thought

If you’re in a season where your faith feels small and your doubt feels loud, take heart. You don’t have to have all the answers to have bold faith. You just need to keep showing up, keep believing, and keep bringing your questions to the One who holds them.

In the end, faith and doubt don’t cancel each other out—they collide and form something stronger: an honest, unshakable faith that knows Who to trust, even when it doesn’t understand.

Struggling to trust God in the middle of your questions? Download the free first chapter of one of our books and discover how everyday women have built courageous faith through seasons of doubt.

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Next Week

Up next → The Difference Between Bold Faith and Reckless Faith.