Our Daily Bread: Called to ServeSampel

Faith and Doubt

Why am I discouraged? . . . I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again! —Psalm 42:11

When my close friend Sharon was killed in a car accident, my heart broke. When life’s circumstances hurt so much, my faith is often mixed with doubt. When Sharon died, I cried out to God with these questions:

Lord, I sure don’t understand You. Why did You allow this death? 

“Have you never heard? The Lord is the everlasting God . . . . He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding” (Isaiah 40:28). “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8).

Lord, You are beyond my understanding. But I still wonder, have You turned Your back on the world? 

“God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8), and “by his great power he rules forever” (66:7).

Lord, I do believe You are ruling this world, but do You care about the pain? Have You forgotten to be good? 

I am “so good, so ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5).

Yes, Lord, You have been good to me in countless ways, including listening to my doubts and questions about You.

The answers God gives us in His Word may not take away our sadness, but we can always rest in the truth that He is wise, sovereign, and good.

Anne Cetas

Every loss leaves an empty space that only God’s presence can fill.