Faith is often spoken of as certainty. We hear people say they “know” what they believe. But the truth is, many of us live with questions, hesitations, and struggles that don’t always fit into neat answers. Doubt can feel like failure. It can feel like weakness. Yet the Bible shows us that doubt is part of the journey of faith, not the end of it.
Take Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples. He has been given the nickname “Doubting Thomas,” almost as if that was his defining feature. But the story in John 20 is not one of shame. It’s a story of a man who wanted to be sure that what his friends told him was real. Thomas was not content with hearsay. He needed to see Jesus for himself, to touch the wounds that proved the cross was not just a story but something Jesus had endured.
And when Jesus met Thomas, he didn’t scold him. He didn’t push him aside. He invited him to do exactly what Thomas asked for. “Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Jesus met Thomas in the middle of his doubt, and Thomas responded with one of the strongest declarations of faith in Scripture: “My Lord and my God.”
Thomas shows us that doubt is not the opposite of faith. It is a stage within faith. His refusal to accept a second-hand report led him to a deeper, more personal encounter with the risen Christ. For anyone who has felt guilty about doubt, Thomas is a faithful companion.
And this matters, because doubt is something most of us know but few of us admit. Many Christians live with questions that they keep to themselves. They wonder if God is listening to their prayers. They wrestle with passages in the Bible that don’t make sense. They look at the suffering in the world and ask why. But instead of voicing those questions, they keep silent, worried that doubt means they don’t belong or that they aren’t strong enough in faith.
The church has not always helped. Too often doubt has been painted as disloyalty or lack of trust. We’ve told each other that real believers don’t ask questions. That silence has left many people feeling isolated in their struggles.
But what if doubt is not the enemy? What if it is an invitation to go deeper? When Thomas doubted, he didn’t walk away. He stayed with the community of disciples, even as he struggled to believe what they told him. He placed himself in the very space where Jesus might show up again. That, too, is faith—staying close even when certainty is out of reach.
Doubt pushes us to search. It makes us wrestle with God, with Scripture, with our own assumptions. That wrestling can be painful, but it often leads to growth. Think of Jacob, who wrestled all night with a mysterious figure until he received both a blessing and a limp. Faith that never wrestles can become shallow. But faith that has gone through doubt is tested, honest, and real.
And sometimes doubt is the only faithful response. When people suffer, when injustice prevails, when prayers go unanswered, rushing to certainty can sound hollow. In those moments, doubt acknowledges that things are not as they should be. It keeps us from easy answers. It gives us the courage to say, “I don’t understand, but I will keep asking.”
For those who are struggling silently, Thomas offers encouragement. You are not alone. You are not broken. Doubt does not disqualify you from faith. It may be the very thing that brings you closer to God. The church needs to be a place where questions are welcomed, where struggles are spoken aloud, and where people can search without fear of judgment.
And for those who feel steady in faith right now, remember that doubt is never far away. It might arrive through grief, through disappointment, or simply through the long silence of waiting. When it comes, it is not the end of the story. It can be the start of a deeper one.
We can learn to sit with doubt, not rush past it. We can let it open us to prayer that is more honest, to community that is more supportive, and to truth that is more than easy answers. The risen Christ still meets us in our questions. He does not turn away. He shows his wounds, not as proof to silence us, but as proof that he has walked through suffering and death and stands alive with us now.
Faith grows not by pretending doubt isn’t there but by bringing it into the light. Thomas shows us that when we dare to speak our doubts, Christ meets us there. And what begins in hesitation can end in worship: “My Lord and my God.”
