Faith + Doubt: 2 Sides of the Same Coin?
Where Does Doubt Really Come From?
Where does doubt come from? What causes it? As we explore this, let’s start with a passage. This verse has always amazed me. I remember the first time I read this verse, I was shocked that it’s in the bible. Let’s set the scene first:
Imagine you’re one of the original disciples…you’ve followed Jesus for 3 years. You’ve seen miracles, heard the most outlandish teaching from a rabbi that you have ever heard. But overtime you come to believe in Jesus. Not only that, you have left everything to follow Him, not knowing where that would lead. Now you’ve watched His brutal execution, which by the way you hid during. After His execution, you heard wild reports of His tomb being empty. And women who visited the tomb even reported seeing Him alive. The women reported that an angel appeared to them claiming that Jesus is alive and said to meet Him in Galilee. The women even claimed that Jesus Himself appeared to them and told them to meet Him in Galilee. So, you do exactly as Jesus says, go to Galilee for the purpose of meeting Him—it’s an intentional, pre-appointed encounter.
Now we get to Mathew 28.17: When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.
They’re exactly where Jesus told them to be doing exactly what he told them to do. Yet, “some doubted.” This verse always amazes me. Jesus standing there right in front of them, resurrected…they see Him with their own eyes and doubted.
But again the nagging question: Where does doubt come from? Often, we assume doubt to be the product of the intellect. Presumably because of a lack of evidence. But for most people, doubt is a product of experience. It’s a result of what we see and live through.
“I’ve followed God but life hasn’t turned out like I want.”
“I believed, but then I lost a loved one.”
“I prayed, but God was silent.”
“People who follow God aren’t any better off than people who don't.”
The Roots of Doubt
The roots of doubt are emotional and circumstantial (life + feelings). Doubt is not merely about questioning truth, it’s about feeling disillusioned and disoriented in life.
Those in Matthew 28 had just experienced the trauma of losing someone they poured their lives into. Their teacher, their hope, their Messiah. He died the humiliating death of a criminal. Imagine their world, torn down. They were surely still carrying the emotional weight of this trauma. Some had previously denied Jesus and now, seeing Him again, probably feeling bad. And now in their guilt and shame they’re being asked to believe again…in something as shocking as resurrection. It’s no wonder that some doubted. They were filled with confusion and emotions and seeing something they had never, ever seen before!
Doubt in the Presence of Jesus
Jesus doesn’t scold them, He knows what’s being asked is difficult. The next verse shows us that their doubt doesn’t disqualify them. In Matthew 28:18-20, we get “The Great Commission.” Matthew 28:17 tells us that the response was mixed with worship and doubt. So, The Great Commission goes to both worshippers and doubters alike.
So, when you read Matthew 28:17, don’t rush past it. Picture people who want to believe but are struggling because they are wounded and still healing…still uncertain. Jesus comes to them and says, “Go.” He trusts even the doubters to carry His message.
That’s Good News!!
The Tension of Faith + Doubt
In the sermon on Sunday (Oct 12, 2025 – “180 Grace: SEEING GOD”), I stated that, as long as we have faith we will have doubt. In other words, faith and doubt live side-by-side. Most Christians imagine doubt as an enemy of faith. But let’s look at Psalm 73 and see that faith always knows the taste of doubt.
Psalm 73 was written by Asaph (Psalm 73:1, title). He was part of the Levite musicians who accompanied the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:16–19) and was subsequently made chief of the musicians who performed at formal ceremonies in the Tabernacle (1 Chronicles 16:4–7; 1 Chronicles 25:1–2).
Asaph and his descendants were entrusted with leading the worship of Israel for generations, and several psalms bear his name (Psalms 50; 73–83). Scripture even refers to him as a seer or prophet, showing that his ministry of music was Spirit-inspired and prophetic in nature (2 Chronicles 29:30).
He was no slouch — Asaph was a man whose worship and words still teach us how to wrestle honestly with doubt and faith in the presence of God.
In verse 1 he writes: God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart.
Another way to translate this verse is: “Truly God is good to Israel…” He starts with TRUTH. We, especially modern Christians, know of God’s goodness. It’s all over the New Testament. Asaph knew it too, even before the time of Jesus. But the truth isn’t enough. You’d think it would be, but it’s not. Because when truth crashes with life, doubt shows up. Look at the next verse:
But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my steps nearly went astray
Notice what he says here: “As for me…” So, there’s truth and then there’s truth that’s filtered through my life experiences. Asaph says, “As for me…I lost my footing in my faith.” Now, why did Asaph, the chief music minister, struggle with his faith? The next verse tells us.
For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked
His faith faltered because of his experiences. Because what he saw in the world did not match the truth he knew in his mind. He was envious and jealous of the wicked. They were prosperous and not in trouble like God’s people (v5).
Truth: “God is good to His people”
Life: “But the wicked prosper and I have trouble”
Truth Collides With Life
Asaph is having not just an intellectual problem, but an emotional crisis. He’s honest about what he’s experiencing. He sees the wicked thrive with painfree lives of health and strength (v4). They are “fat”, so fat from all their blessings that their eyes bulge from their fatness. Asaph’s description is vivid. Fatness is a sign of abundance and privilege. Not only are the wicked fat but out of their fatness (prosperity) comes mocking and questioning God (vv8-11). So, they not only prosper but do so in mock of God!
We know the feeling…we see it on social media. Their highlight reels, their picture perfect families. Those who are blessed while we wait for God. Those who prosper while we struggle. Those who experience a breakthrough in life while God is silent for us. But God is good, right? What do you do when your experience screams the opposite? What do you do when faith and envy, trust and doubt, sit side by side in your heart?
Asaph knows the feeling…he opens the Psalm with the truth. But the rest of the Psalm is a confession of his struggle with faith. His struggle to believe the truth he knows. Maybe like us he asks, “Is God really good?” Our circumstances cause us to doubt the character of God.
Doubt is not just an intellectual problem, it’s an emotional and experiential one
In verses 13-15 Asaph asks the inevitable question: Why bother being faithful when the wicked prosper?
What’s the point... why not just be wicked? Aspah’s honest confession reminds us that doubt comes from wounds, betrayals, and disappointments.
Doubt is what happens when your story doesn’t match your theology
Do NOT Isolate Yourself – Enter The Sanctuary
Left alone with our doubts we spiral, until something interrupts us. We cannot live in the atmosphere of doubt and expect to be healthy. We must move into the sanctuary…into God’s presence. Look now at verse 17, it’s the turning point for Asaph and us. He says all was hopeless until:
I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny
He didn’t reason his way out, he entered into the presence of God and saw a different reality. It wasn’t a new intellectual argument, but rather, a new perspective. He learned that worship changes the way that we see. It doesn’t solve our problems in the ways that we would like, but Asaph reminds us that our view of God is small. Our view of Him will grow ever smaller as we live only in a cloud of doubt. We need to break the cycle.
He captures this in verse 26:
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever
He says plainly, that we fail, in our thinking, in our understanding, and in our interpretation of life. But, God is our portion, not our certainty nor our feelings. Not a pain-free life or comfort, not even an unbroken faith. These things reveal that our view of God is S-M-A-L-L! It’s human centered, many times focused on prosperity and blessings. Focused on what we can get from God rather than getting more of God. Our hearts often shrink Him down to a vending machine for blessings, when He is the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13).
The Gospel IS God
Asaph says, “Whom have I in heaven but you?” (v25) That’s the question of a heart that’s learned the answer is not a gift, but the Giver Himself.
Remember verse 1: God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart. So when we envy and are filled with jealousy…when we lament because we don’t get what we want, even if that want is ‘good.’, we have to ask: “Are our hearts pure?” When we become the driver of our faith, are we making God servant to us? Our hearts easily wander, are envious, and jealous: we are not “pure in heart”, we need a Savior who is. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God” (Matt 5:8), that blessing comes to us not just through Jesus but in Jesus Himself. This is the gospel.
The gospel redefines even our expectations. Rather than more blessings we need to primarily want more God. And when we question God’s goodness, we need only to look at Jesus and the cross. Let’s do this through v23:
Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand
We must ask how Asaph knew this, that God would always be with him and hold his hand? He knew this because of direct divine revelation. What God revealed to him became Holy Scripture. Now, we have the full revelation from God…all of Scripture that points to Jesus (Luke 24:27).
On the cross Jesus cried out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46). Jesus took on true forsakenness so that we’d never be truly forsaken by God, even if we feel as if we have been. Our security isn’t found in our own purity but in Jesus, the only One truly pure in heart who gave Himself for us.
Because He was forsaken, we are forever accepted.
Because He was abandoned, we are held, hand in hand, even when our grip is weak.
Now, when we walk through doubt, envy, and disappointment, we walk with a Savior who knows our weakness and never leaves us. A Savior who anchors us eternally to God. Asaph said it like this: I am always with you (v23). We have the promise now that he will NEVER leave us or abandon us (Heb 13:5). Jesus promised this in John 14:18, that He would not leave us as orphans, but that He will come for us. And he did at Pentecost when sent His Spirit and began forming the Church. Paul puts it like this in Romans 5:5,
God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
By His Spirit we have the love of God, given through Christ filling us. It will never depart from us. The Spirit gives us more than feelings, it gives us a guarantee. God doesn’t give us His Spirit on a whim, but as a mark that we are His. Even in our deepest seasons of doubt, The Spirit is God’s signature that we belong to Him. His presence is the reminder that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Yes we will doubt, yes we will envy, yes our hearts will wander. But the Sanctuary door is always open, because Jesus opened it for us (Hebrews 10:19–22).
Truly God is good, not because we always feel it, but because the cross has already proven it.
Tying up loose ends
Let’s finish off by looking at two specifics:
- Why bother with faith if it doesn’t profit us?
- What should I do with my doubt?
Why Bother With Faith
We saw that Asaph asked the question of all questions…”Why be faithful?” If the wicked prosper even while mocking God then why bother with faith (vv13-15). Why keep going when faith doesn’t seem to be working? Remember what we said about the gospel: The Gospel IS God. Not just a way to get things from God, but to get us to God himself. The Gospel is fundamentally about restoring our relationship with God, not merely about receiving divine benefits. As we have seen in our journey through the Book of Acts so far, the Gospel is not even about going to heaven but about bringing heaven to us now. And to get to heaven is to get to God. God is not a means to an end, but the end Himself.
Asaph says it like this in verse 25 of Psalm 73:
Who do I have in heaven but you?
And I desire nothing on earth but you.
This is the answer to the question: Why be faithful? Because we Get God!
Peter says it like this in 1 Peter 3:18,
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that he might bring you to God.
Faith is not a formula to get things from God (see last week’s article, “Does The Church Need More Doubt?”). The gospel upends even our expectations, where we expect clarity and chase answers we get God, our portion and prize. Christ suffered and reigns to bring you all the way home—to Himself.
Where Do We Go With Our Doubt?
We, as God’s people built on faith in Jesus, will always have doubt. Doubt is not an enemy of faith but a companion, even if it’s unwanted. Asaph didn’t hide his struggles, he brought his doubt before God and allowed himself to be reshaped through worship. He didn’t live in a constant state of doubt and emotions but worshiped in the midst of his struggles.
Even Jesus acknowledges and honors our doubt. He met Thomas in his uncertainty and showed him His wounds (John 20:27). He called the doubters and the worshipers to bear witness to Him (Matt 28:17–20). He invites us to come as we are with questions, wounds, weakness and even doubt in Him. The answer is not to hide or pretend but to press into our doubts in the presence of God. To enter the sanctuary and worship alongside God’s people. Sometimes we need the faith of others as a testimony when our faith is weak. God has designed us not only individually as a person but corporately as people. In the company of His saints we can gain perspective and strength.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. —Hebrews 10:24–25