Wrestling with Doubt: A Journey of Faith

In this episode, we dive deep into the complexities of faith, doubt, and the ongoing journey of spiritual growth. We explore how it's completely normal to experience seasons of doubt and how wrestling with God is part of the process. Through a heartfelt conversation with a listener named Bill, who shares his struggles with anger towards God and confusion about his faith, we discuss how to navigate those tough emotions and find peace.

We talk about the importance of finding a Bible translation that works for you, how God is big enough to handle our emotions, and how living in community can provide the support needed to keep moving forward in faith. Whether you're dealing with doubt, wrestling with difficult emotions, or just seeking clarity in your walk with God, this episode offers encouragement, practical advice, and a reminder that you're not alone in your journey. Tune in for an honest, relatable conversation on faith, struggle, and trusting in God’s timing.

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Episode Transcript

Lauren (00:30):
We have a caller bill from Warren. Hey, Bill, what's
your question for the show?

Caller (00:35):
Oh, I don't know, ma'am. I have, like, a broad thing,
but okay, I think if after you get turned over
to a reprobate mind, can you ever recover from that?
Because I've been in church my whole life, I've never
really got saved till about ten years ago. I asked
the Lord to come into my heart and save my soul. And,

(00:57):
you know, I read the Bible and I know by
the Holy Spirit is supposed to enlighten you by reading
the Bible. I actually get very, very little out of
reading the Bible. The Holy Spirit. Don't enlighten me. And
I find myself ma'am, I don't know, I get mad
at the Lord and I know that's bad. I know

(01:18):
he is right and I know he is good and
it's not right because it's not right or wrong, because
I think it's right or wrong. It's right because he
thinks it's right and it's wrong because he thinks it's wrong.
But I got mad at him one time about how
he kind of sicked the Satan onto job and I.
Can I be angry at the Lord and be saved?

(01:43):
Because sometimes I'm. I'm angry at the Lord.

S3 (01:47):
Mhm.

Daria (01:47):
Can I ask you first what version of the Bible
you're reading? What. What's your translation.

Caller (01:52):
The King James Version I'm Baptist. I, I've been a
church my whole life.

Lauren (01:58):
Yeah. Thanks so much for your question, Bill. I think
a good version to kind of start with, just the
King James sometimes can be a little bit hard to understand,
because it's not in our modern language. I find for
my personal study, I like to use the NLT, the
New Living Translation, because even after I went to Bible school,
even after years in Bible school of using NIV, ESV versions,

(02:20):
NLT for me kind of really opened up my understanding
of the word. And this was after I went to
Bible college. The New Living Translation helped me be like, oh,
I get it. I, I was not understanding these concepts
until I read the New Living Translation, so I'd say
maybe try just try out a couple different versions, See

(02:42):
if there's a local library. If you don't want to
commit to a version, go to a library, try out
a couple of different versions, or look online and try
a couple different versions to see if you can. It
can get some more understanding, but I'd also say, first
of all, it is totally okay to be mad at God. Yes,
it is 100% okay to be mad at God. He
would not be God if he was not able to

(03:02):
handle our anger. He is a big, big God and
he can handle our anger. And I think he expects
it because he is so much bigger than us that
there's so much we don't understand about him. So please
hear me when I say it is okay for you
to be mad at God. It is not a sin
for you to be mad at God. He can handle

(03:23):
our big emotions. And I actually think it's really good
that you can experience those emotions along with God, because
he can handle them when a lot of other people
today can't handle those emotions. But God can. I think being.

Daria (03:37):
Angry at God is better than turning your back on
him entirely. Absolutely.

Lauren (03:40):
Yes, absolutely. And I think in your comments about the
Holy Spirit and hasn't, hasn't enlightened you to reading the scripture.
I think number one, like Darius said, maybe changing the
translation that you're reading up just to see if another
version helps you understand a little bit more. But also,
I think we put a lot of pressure on each
other in the church to say you should be getting

(04:02):
something significant every single time you open the Bible, that
the page that you turn to is going to speak
to you today. And that's not quite how Bible reading
works all the time. Sometimes it happens over time. Sometimes
it's going back and reading something over and over again.
I think it could also be helpful to get a
Bible reading tool, something like a commentary or a study

(04:24):
Bible that has notes at the bottom. Because this was
written in a different language, it was written in a
different cultural context. And so some things are just not
they don't make sense right away to us in our
current cultural context and language.

Daria (04:37):
And do it with someone to, if you're really struggling,
have someone come alongside you. And as we said before,
I mean, we don't have anything against the King James Version. Um,
but because of the way it's written, a lot of
people are going to struggle with it. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with trying out a different version. I'm partial
to the new King James myself. I also enjoy the ESV.
There's nothing wrong with the NIV. I know that one
gets knocked a lot. Um, just try something else out.

(04:59):
If you're not understanding, it is better to try another
version than to keep, you know, being frustrated because you
literally don't understand what's being said.

Lauren (05:06):
Yeah, absolutely.

Caller (05:07):
Well, I'm with you guys like you guys was talking
about this morning where the Lord says, depart from me,
for I didn't even know you. I wondering, you know,
I know the Lord, and I believe the Lord existed,
and I believe he is the Son of God. But
do I believe in the proper way to be saved
and not just say, yeah, I believe in that guy?

Lauren (05:26):
Well, Bill, do you believe that your life is hidden
in Christ and that you've put all of your faith
and hope in him, and that he holds your sin,
and that you trust and believe that he is King
of your life? Do you believe that?

Caller (05:41):
I, ma'am, I don't know. I believe that he can
do all those things. But how do you I mean, real,
real deep into my soul. How do I get. I mean,
I know it's faith not feeling, but how do I
get that understanding deep into my soul.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
Deep. I mean, deep into my soul where I just

(06:02):
absolutely 100%. No, I can't say that I do that.

Lauren (06:07):
Yeah, I think that's the journey of faith. Is that
part of faith is that we're we're never going to
see it today. And there's always I think there is
always some little strings of doubt throughout our life. Sometimes
it's really long seasons of doubt. Sometimes it's wrestling with
God and it's absolutely okay to wrestle with God. We

(06:28):
see in Genesis 32 or 31 that Jacob wrestled with God,
and he said, I am not going to stop wrestling
with God until I get my blessing. And that's what
he did. And that's okay for us to wrestle with God, too.
This is a lifelong journey. There is no I've made it.
There is no. I am now the pinnacle of Christianity,

(06:50):
and I am the perfect Christian. And I know every
single day that God's there for me, that he loves me.
There's always seasons of doubt. From what it sounds like, Bill,
to me, it sounds like that you do trust and
believe that God Has taken your sins, that you've put
your sin on his, on his back, that you put
to death your sin in him. And I think that

(07:12):
it's just going to take some time to get into
the word. I would also suggest that you meet with
a pastor in your local area and share these thoughts
with them so that they can encourage you. They can
have you meet up with a men's group or a
small group of some kind, because living in community is
going to help you continue to believe that you are
hidden in Christ, that your sins are in him and

(07:33):
that you have been, that you, you have your sins
have been buried with him and raised with him again.
What I would like to do for you, Bill, if
you could stay on the line, I'm going to have
Daria take take you. When we go to the news,
I'm going to send you a moody Bible commentary as
well as some Bible reading tools, if that's okay.

Caller (07:50):
Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much for your time.

Lauren (07:52):
Yeah.
Thanks, Bill. So you stay on hold. Daria is going
to get your address and we'll send you some stuff, okay?

Caller (07:57):
Yes, ma'am. Thank you. You have a good day.

S6 (07:59):
Hey, there. Thanks for joining us. Like you, we're looking
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