Dealing With Doubt?

[Pax_Christum]

Hello everybody, I’m new here and I’m from Croatia, Europe.

My first question to start thread is about common crisis of faith, How you dealing with your doubts and what causes them? How do you see doubts in your life? Is it emotionally or intellectualy? How do you getting through the crisis of faith?

 

[bolinstephen]

Hello everybody, I’m new here and I’m from Croatia, Europe.

My first question to start thread is about common crisis of faith, How you dealing with your doubts and what causes them? How do you see doubts in your life? Is it emotionally or intellectualy? How do you getting through the crisis of faith?

Doubts and crisis of faith can be so hard. It happens all the time to many Christians and Catholics. The best principle I know of to get through these is this: to those who are responsible with little things, much more will be given. Show a little faith. Pray for faith. So much more will be given in due time.
James 1:

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

[Chantal25]

Hello everybody, I’m new here and I’m from Croatia, Europe.

My first question to start thread is about common crisis of faith, How you dealing with your doubts and what causes them? How do you see doubts in your life? Is it emotionally or intellectualy? How do you getting through the crisis of faith?

This is great that you are recognizing it now because you can do something about it.

I had those doubts and sadly, it leaded me to disconnect from the church, thankfully, Mother Mary helped me. I simply prayed the rosary then something in me wanted to know her message, when i saw “Read the bible, go to the confess, go to the communion”, then i knew i had to challenge my new believe system. I simply prayed and asked God to show me my wrong doing. I had to pray to have remorse because i didn’t feel they were wrong. When i did, i went to the confession and it was the beginning of my return to the church.

Go see your priest and to the confession and talk about your doubt. Start saying the Rosary, perhaps, commit to one day per week and soon you will do this every day. Mother Mary will give you the grace that you need to reinforce your faith.

Get DVD about Saint, re-educate yourself. They have great DVD about Jean Paul II (What an amazing Pope), I like very much the one about 9 days that change everything.

Anyway, i pray for you for your doubt to be transformed into God’s love.

Blessings and love!

 

[Pax_Christum]

Thanks for your answers, I hope others will too share their crisis of faith and doubt we’re all dealing it.

 

[hydin]

First, I am certainly no expert in theology but I believe doubt is good in a Faith journey. It causes you to dig and find the truth by yourself. Blind Faith is not worth much when a crisis hits. Some turn and run away in despair. Some, like you, run toward God for answers. You have made a good choice. You will be rewarded. Many times when I have had doubts it is rooted in my disappointment rather than much else. How could this happen to me? How could God allow THAT to happen? They are good Catholics, why are they suffering? I could go on. First thing I did was look to Protestants who converted to our faith, Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Alan Hunt, and Tim Staples. These were not just Protestants but church leaders in their old faiths. How could they switch from being a protestant pastor to Catholic? Allen Hunt was Pastor of a MegaChurch! If they saw something I wanted to see it (that is my position and I am sticking to it… it was not because they had all done the research for me and saved me months of digging… I promise.) Her are some links that might help. I will include blogs and video links below. JUst search the names and tons of stuff will come up. Special note - I have found that sometimes our suffering is not about us… it is about how we react AND who is watching us react. The New Testament promises from Jesus’ lips really only promise “Peace”, not comfort or happiness… I also usually found my faith drifting when I tried to help God rather than being patient and waiting for him to do his work. It is done in his own time, not ours. Usually this means once I give up and get angry with God He allows things to happen and I realize my failure to trust him. He also seems to get pleasure in proving I still lack complete Faith and Trust in Him. I am working to trust more. God is good and God is always God. Things we blame God for “allowing” are usually things that man actually caused, developed, sold or inserted in the the world on our own.

jimmyakin.com/ catholic.com/video/browse/all/all/Tim%20Staples catholic.com/video/browse/all/all/Jimmy%20Akin georgiabulletin.org/local/2008/03/27/hunt/ This is a great start… he is a very easy and fun read allen hunt chnetwork.org/2011/11/3-treasures-of-the-church-conversion-story-of-allen-hunt/

May Jesus guide you as you uncover the riches of the Catholic Church. Every time I have doubted truth was revealed and I was more convinced than ever that I was in the Church Jesus founded and has protected (in spite of the humans who make up the Church, sinners every one, me included… very included). Here is the thing that removed all doubt for me… it is not in the canon of scripture but is traced back to the very earliest followers of Jesus… and it very much matches how we do things today. It doesn’t match any other Faith’s worship services… just ours… here is a link… Dig into this simple and short document… watch the video here first… catholic.com/video/what-is-the-didache then here is the actual document… newadvent.org/cathen/04779a.htm My

 

[fred_conty]

10,000 questions do not make one doubt.

Spiritual dryness or darkness is not a doubt.

Hard temptations are not a doubt.

What area of your spiritual life is complicated to you and think you have a doubt?

Try and analyse this first. Then you can more easily fix it.

Just a suggestion.

 

[leviman]

When in doubt, just open up to Jesus Christ and ask Him to help and guide you to attain that beautiful peaceful feeling of confidence in the existence of God and confidence in Jesus Christ’s salvation. Pray and ask your Father in heaven that you want to get know Him, that you want to get to know Jesus Christ. You can build a personal relationship of love with your Father and Savior just by allowing yourself to take the first steps and asking your Father from your heart. Shout out to Him as you would your mother or father or some one you love. don’t hold nothing back emotionally and God’s will be done.

My heart assures me but my mind tries to trip me up. Listen to your heart.

 

[MJC2013]

Hello everybody, I’m new here and I’m from Croatia, Europe.

My first question to start thread is about common crisis of faith, How you dealing with your doubts and what causes them? How do you see doubts in your life? Is it emotionally or intellectualy? How do you getting through the crisis of faith?

I like the metaphor of Day and Night. During the Day we can see; at night the light disappears and we are lost. Dante writes: “Midway life’s journey I was made aware that I had strayed into a dark forest, and the right path appeared not anywhere…” Doubts are the Nights we experience.

What CAUSES these doubts? It may be as simple as the lights going out. When the lights go out, our minds look for causes, things we did wrong, how God is punishing us; but it may be as simple as the fact that we are no longer able to see where we are going.

At Night our eyes go out, and our ears open. At Night we have to listen. We listen for God. We must quiet our mind, quiet our hearts, because God’s messenger is in our heart telling us where we are, where we are going, telling us to not be afraid. This is the essence of the spiritual life: listening to your angel. It is not easy. You have to quiet your mind and your heart so the radio transmission can get through. Radio signals travel very far during the Night: we can communicate over vast distances. Radio signals travel a very short distance during the Day. During the Day we listen to ourselves, to our vanities, and pride, and greed, and desire, and ego, our desire to climb the mountain of success and be admired by everyone. During the Night, during periods of Doubt, we get small, we become less active, we sit and listen, and pray, and then we can begin to hear the voice of our guardian angel, who is really ourself in our purest form.

Doubt is painful, is torture. But it is Doubt that brings us salvation. It is Doubt that saves us from Pride.

 

[MJC2013]

First, I am certainly no expert in theology but I believe doubt is good in a Faith journey. It causes you to dig and find the truth by yourself. Blind Faith is not worth much when a crisis hits. Some turn and run away in despair. Some, like you, run toward God for answers. You have made a good choice. You will be rewarded. Many times when I have had doubts it is rooted in my disappointment rather than much else. How could this happen to me? How could God allow THAT to happen? They are good Catholics, why are they suffering? I could go on. First thing I did was look to Protestants who converted to our faith, Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Alan Hunt, and Tim Staples. These were not just Protestants but church leaders in their old faiths. How could they switch from being a protestant pastor to Catholic? Allen Hunt was Pastor of a MegaChurch! If they saw something I wanted to see it (that is my position and I am sticking to it… it was not because they had all done the research for me and saved me months of digging… I promise.) Her are some links that might help. I will include blogs and video links below. JUst search the names and tons of stuff will come up. Special note - I have found that sometimes our suffering is not about us… it is about how we react AND who is watching us react. The New Testament promises from Jesus’ lips really only promise “Peace”, not comfort or happiness… I also usually found my faith drifting when I tried to help God rather than being patient and waiting for him to do his work. It is done in his own time, not ours. Usually this means once I give up and get angry with God He allows things to happen and I realize my failure to trust him. He also seems to get pleasure in proving I still lack complete Faith and Trust in Him. I am working to trust more. God is good and God is always God. Things we blame God for “allowing” are usually things that man actually caused, developed, sold or inserted in the the world on our own.

jimmyakin.com/ catholic.com/video/browse/all/all/Tim%20Staples catholic.com/video/browse/all/all/Jimmy%20Akin georgiabulletin.org/local/2008/03/27/hunt/ This is a great start… he is a very easy and fun read allen hunt chnetwork.org/2011/11/3-treasures-of-the-church-conversion-story-of-allen-hunt/

May Jesus guide you as you uncover the riches of the Catholic Church. Every time I have doubted truth was revealed and I was more convinced than ever that I was in the Church Jesus founded and has protected (in spite of the humans who make up the Church, sinners every one, me included… very included). Here is the thing that removed all doubt for me… it is not in the canon of scripture but is traced back to the very earliest followers of Jesus… and it very much matches how we do things today. It doesn’t match any other Faith’s worship services… just ours… here is a link… Dig into this simple and short document… watch the video here first… catholic.com/video/what-is-the-didache then here is the actual document… newadvent.org/cathen/04779a.htm My

Excellent post. I could not agree more.

What does Catholicism have that Protestantism seems to lack? To me it is the mystery of the Soul. The Protestants seem to love the light of Reason, the Intellectual law. But that is only part of the whole. The mystery of the Soul, the Deep Water of reflection, the Heart, the Sacred Heart, the Virgin Sea from which new life springs…these are all essential to Catholicism. Renewal. Rigid intellectual systems and laws are part of the whole. But it takes Water and Earth to create a Human Soul.