The struggle is real

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Christy_7

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Hey everyone,

For the past few days I’ve really been in doubt about my faith and these constant thoughts that God isn’t real or is in another religion has seriously been haunting me and I tried to Pisa it aside but it’s not helping. I keep on questioning my faith, Jesus, Mary and the Trinity. I feel like I don’t understand it at all. I can help others with yet faith but not myself. Yesterday I watched the movie Songs of Bernadette with a couple of other youths and I did feel really inspired to live a holy life and have faith. But to my regret it didn’t last very long. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I have given up before but every time I do that something happens and brings me back but the same cycle happens again. I’m the kind of person who has very little faith and I do almost anything to cling on to it. Is God is testing my faith? I don’t believe He is but I don’t know anything anymore. I feel so lost and miserable right now. Because of this I’m not exactly doing well in college I mean how can I with these thoughts haunting me. I know God has a plan for me and a great one so I’ve heard from a priest but I don’t believe that when I’m so weak in my faith. I mean it could be that God is giving me these troubles to give me a strong base for my faith somehow but I don’t know. I want to ask more but words can be used to express what I feel right now. Literally. I think that’s for God to answer me. Can anyone help please.

P.S. I just want to add - has anyone been in the same shoe as me with this situation? Or am I the only one?
Sorry for the long paragraph
Christy.
 
Hello, Please do not give up on God. Keep praying ask God to increase your faith. Please do not be guided by your feelings, but trust in Jesus. He is real even if we don’t feel him. Maybe talk with a priest.
Love to you in Christ.
 
Christy_7 said:
Hey everyone,

For the past few days I’ve really been in doubt about my faith and these constant thoughts that God isn’t real or is in another religion has seriously been haunting me and I tried to Pisa it aside but it’s not helping. I keep on questioning my faith, Jesus, Mary and the Trinity. I feel like I don’t understand it at all. I can help others with yet faith but not myself. Yesterday I watched the movie Songs of Bernadette with a couple of other youths and I did feel really inspired to live a holy life and have faith. But to my regret it didn’t last very long. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I have given up before but every time I do that something happens and brings me back but the same cycle happens again. I’m the kind of person who has very little faith and I do almost anything to cling on to it. Is God is testing my faith? I don’t believe He is but I don’t know anything anymore. I feel so lost and miserable right now. Because of this I’m not exactly doing well in college I mean how can I with these thoughts haunting me. I know God has a plan for me and a great one so I’ve heard from a priest but I don’t believe that when I’m so weak in my faith. I mean it could be that God is giving me these troubles to give me a strong base for my faith somehow but I don’t know. I want to ask more but words can be used to express what I feel right now. Literally. I think that’s for God to answer me. Can anyone help please.

P.S. I just want to add - has anyone been in the same shoe as me with this situation? Or am I the only one?
Sorry for the long paragraph
Christy.
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Praying for you. Do not give up. Keep the faith. Remember, God answers us in His time not ours. He loves you & never leaves you. God bless.
 
Christy,
From your description, I gather that these thoughts are unwanted and just pop up in your mind?

if this is that case, then you could treat them as you would any thoughts which tempt people to evil. What I do when I notice my thoughts have become bad is to first ask saints, Our Lady, and Christ for their help. I then try to move my mind on to other topics. Sometimes, however, I am assailed, and then I just repeat the prayers and the attempt to move my mind onto other thoughts.

At first, the whole thing might get worse, but it will eventually get better. During your regular prayers (Morning, Evening, Rosary, etc), ask particularly for the gift of an increase in faith.
 
Trust me, we all go through phases were our Faith is tested and we question it. This can be especially true when things are going very badly for us, we are sick, lose a job, fail a class or have our plans upset by outside events. It is part of the journey.

Trust in God, and don’t rely so much on how you feel. Feeling can be very deceiving. Some of the greatest Saints went through years of deep darkness and depression. Did you know that Mother Theresa was depressed, according to recent documents, for most of her life. And this despite the global work she helped start to care for the sick and dying?

St. Bernadette was warned by the Virgin Mary that “she would never be happy in this life.” Her faith in God could not be dependent on being happy or comfortable. It is easy to trust and believe when things are going as we like or just good in general. It is a whole other thing to keep that trust when darkness enters our lives.

Believe me God is there, He loves you and He understands your struggle. Take each day one day at a time. You will do better over time.
 
Christy_7 said:
Because of this I’m not exactly doing well in college I mean how can I with these thoughts haunting me.
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Try to relax and be confident that any questions you may have NOW will have an answer sooner or later. You would be sorry later in life if your CURRENT struggle with faith spoils your opportunity at having an education. I don’t want to be blunt. but you should say to yourself “Now, Christy, say your prayers and get back to study”
 
@tawny and @suzanne thank you for your kind words.

@StFrancis I know it’s these feelings that are haunting me. They won’t stop no matter what and I am so angry with God right now I do t even know why. I don’t even know why He’s doing this to me. I’m not ready and He knows that.

@Cricket2 I know that I shouldn’t trust my feelings all the time but my faith (as little as it may be) is built on these feeling I get when people tell me that God loves me and when I read the Bible. I know know other faith. I have tried to build my faith on Jesus and trust Him but for some reason I can’t. I try but I can’t. I envy all the saints at this point. I don’t know what God wants me to do at this point. I can’t pray as I have no faith. I can’t Recife communion cos I have no faith. I can’t do anything. I have no motivation to do anything. Falling back on my studies. Disappointment to my parents. What more can I ask for (?) this is cruel and I know there are millions of people suffering and I shouldn’t compare my suffering to theirs but I would rather have physical suffering rather than mental at this point. I have no hope- at all.

Thank you anyway. I’m just tired of all this.
 
“I am just tired of all this”

Oh my, yes, life can be exhausting. I think its particularly hard for students - you need to study. And your studies encourage thinking. An active mind can go ANYWHERE! I never enjoyed being a student, partly because there wasn’t much structure, routine, or “purpose” in my day. Looking back, I didn’t manage it well, and I’m ashamed to admit, God didn’t much figure in things. I wasn’t active in my faith, and I very much regret that.

You might get more involved in your student parish activities. Cultivate a prayer discipline. Surround yourself with faithful people - sharing faith with others is very uplifting! We are not meant to be in this on our own - wrap yourself in His grace, and perhaps you can rest a bit easier as a child of God. Best wishes - will pray for you!
 
Thank you wendiek. And thank you everyone. I feel a lot better after letting out my burdens to someone. I will continue I guess now with everything that needs to be done. Even if I did decide to give up, He will call me back anyways like other times. The end results the same. He wins.

Thank you all and please pray I don’t lose my faith. The thing is I find my faith lose it then find it again and it’s a long process for me or anyone to go through. Thank you!! Please pray for me.

Christyxx
 
Christy_7 said:
Thank you wendiek. And thank you everyone. I feel a lot better after letting out my burdens to someone. I will continue I guess now with everything that needs to be done. Even if I did decide to give up, He will call me back anyways like other times. The end results the same. He wins.

Thank you all and please pray I don’t lose my faith. The thing is I find my faith lose it then find it again and it’s a long process for me or anyone to go through. Thank you!! Please pray for me.

Christyxx
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You also wrote: @StFrancis I know it’s these feelings that are haunting me. They won’t stop no matter what and I am so angry with God right now I do t even know why. I don’t even know why He’s doing this to me. I’m not ready and He knows that.

Sometimes God permits something like this just so we will turn to Him. He sees that we need His help, and so allows something like this to bring our attention back to Him. It’s not that you are not ready, but that you are not using His grace to help you.

My advice may not have sounded right to you because my identification of your problem may not have been correct. I think it would be helpful to you to discuss this with a good priest who will be better able to guide your prayers to help with this problem, since it is distracting you from your studies.
 
you know, i have suffered the same since september of the last year, I want to convince myself that there is no God. sometimes i feel like i dont have faith.
but something always cheers me up, is to go to Mass, looking at Christ and all He suffered for me, it makes me feel His Love. I can tell there is something supernatural going on there.

now you say you are not ready? well you have not given up, it means you are stronger than you think you are. just be patient, put more effort in college and other stuff so you dont let that many time your mind to think in stuff you should not.
 
Yes, I have gone through this…for over 20 years . Not everyone has an overnight conversion…some of us have slow progress in our conversion over a lifetime. Hang on for the ride. It’s a good ride, even with the doubts. Stay with people of faith, especially those who are not afraid to address your doubts.
 
Thank you for sharing your experiences with me.
Can anyone explain this to me please: why do I still get these doubts about God and my religion in y head eveytime my faith comes back little by little and I lose it again. Is t the devil or god trying I test my faith? If so why?

Christy
 
Hi Christy

The devil wants to destroy you. The reason being that he hates God and you remind him of God as you are made in His image. He cannot destroy God but he can destroy you. But only if you let him.

Satan knows when you are drawing closer to God and will spare no effort in trying to obstruct you. It is at times like these you must persevere. Hang in there. Even with doubts, worries, despair keep going to Mass, confession and Adoration. Ask God, through Christ’s merits for the gift of faith. And wait for His grace. It WILL come. When God knows it will help you most.

Pray the Rosary. Spend even 10-15 mins in front of the Lord in the tabernacle. You don’t even have to pray. Just by being close to Jesus who IS there in a most special way, you WILL receive the grace. The Lord’s presence in the tabernacle is like rays of the most brilliant sunshine bathing all who draw close. Just sit. You may feel like time is dragging, the minutes may feel like hours but make an act of the will to stay. Then go back the next day. Being close to Jesus changes us whether we know it or not. We cannot but be changed. All who came into His presence when He walked bodily on earth felt it. They did not all understand it as we know but they FELT he was different. Some knew this so powerfully that they believed if only they could touch his clothes they would be somehow better in ways they did not even understand.

We have the privilege of sitting at His feet whenever we like just by going to our local church and sitting before the Lord.

Keep running the race. Do not give up. You know you are going in the right direction when the devil puts up a fight to keep you away from the Lord.

**Blessed be God forever.
**
 
Amen!! I’ve trying to make sense of this and now I understand. Because I know what I’m up against, I feel better. Thank you so much!! Praise The Lord!
 
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