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Dec 23, 2025 18:00pm

Walking Through Luke: Messengers of Doubt

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When we’re faced with doubt, we don’t want anyone to know about it. Whether it’s doubting our partner in a relationship, our ability to complete a difficult task, or the word of someone who made a promise to us, doubts are little anxieties that hide deep within us and keep us from feeling certain. And when we experience uncertainty, we can’t feel peace.

Doubts seem especially difficult to discuss in church. That’s not how it should be. We should be open to listen to the doubts of fellow believers, so that we can encourage them and provide answers to their nagging internal questions. However, we often fear that we will be judged for doubting, as if we’re the only Christian in the world who has ever had an uncertainty or question about our faith.

I wouldn’t be shocked if many of my readers said, “Yes, at some point I’ve had some kind of doubt or question about my faith.” Maybe you have questioned whether you’re really saved. Maybe you’ve questioned whether it’s important to go to church, read your Bible, and pray. Maybe you’ve questioned whether your pastor knows what he’s talking about each week, and whether anything he’s teaching is actually true. Maybe you’ve had doubts about whether God is real, whether Jesus really died and rose again, or whether the Bible can be trusted.

If you have, you’re not alone. When I was sixteen and seventeen years old, there were stretches of time when I doubted my salvation every night. I would lie awake and repeat over and over again, “God, if I’m not saved, if I’ve never truly trusted You, if I didn’t say the right words when I prayed, please save me this time.” It was like a constant loop I could not escape.

Over time, and thanks to several conversations with my dad and other spiritual mentors, I finally understood that my salvation had nothing to do with praying the right words or believing hard enough, but rather that the work had already been done. The victory over sin and death had already been won by the blood of Jesus. It wasn’t a certain amount of faith that would make me able to be saved—it was acknowledging through faith that the work was already done and only had to be received.

Sometimes doubts pop up because of things we hear from other people. Some who try to disprove Christianity have arguments that seem very clear and compelling. If we don’t know our stuff, and we can’t counter their argument, it can make us feel like maybe they have a point. But rather than accept defeat, we should look for answers. We should see how other Christians have responded to those arguments and what the Bible has to say about certain topics.

The Gospel of Luke shows us someone else who had doubts, and it might surprise you to learn who it is. Luke 7:18–28 tells a story about John the Baptist—the cousin and precursor of Jesus—wrestling with his own doubts.

At this point, John was in prison. He had preached against King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, and Herod had arrested him for it. Since then, John had been waiting for news of Jesus’ triumphant ascension to kingship. When no such news came, John began to doubt. He, like many other devout Jewish people, expected their Messiah to be a conquering hero, freeing Israel from Herod and Rome and Caesar, not a gentle Shepherd who had come to free them from their sins.

He sent messengers to Jesus to ask Him, “Are You really the Messiah, or are we to look for someone else?” This was the same man who had baptized Jesus and heard the voice of God speak from heaven, “This is My beloved Son.” The same man who preached repentance and pointed to Jesus as the coming Lamb of God. Jesus’ own cousin! Yet still, he doubted. And why? Because he was crushed under the weight of his circumstances, discouraged by what had happened in his life, and wondering why God had not yet intervened.

Jesus told the messengers to report back to John about everything they had seen Him do: all the miracles that fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. There could be no doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, because He had done things no one else could do—especially raising the dead. He finished with, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” This was not a rebuke of John for doubting, but a reminder and encouragement that He was aware of John’s faith.

He went on to address the crowd after John’s messengers left, telling them how great a man John was. He was the greatest man born of a woman, and he was the man prophesied to prepare the way for the Messiah. Yet even he doubted. What should this tell us? It should encourage us that if someone as great as John doubted—and was not reprimanded by Jesus—then it’s okay when we doubt, too. God doesn’t judge us for our doubts or look down His nose at us. He loves us, and He wants to encourage us and fill us with hope.

If you have doubts, don’t be afraid to vocalize them. Go to a trusted friend or spiritual mentor who can enlighten you. As you do, recognize that even they may not have a perfect response to your question. No one has all the answers. But that’s why we have faith. Faith is believing what we can’t see. It’s choosing to accept that while we can’t know it all, God does, and He will reveal to us what we need to know to strengthen our relationship with Him.

Doubt can actually be a good thing. And you may think that’s insane to say, but hear me out. If you have a doubt, it’s an opportunity to reinforce your faith. Don’t approach your doubts with fear. Don’t think, “What if this means my faith isn’t strong enough?” Instead, take it as an opportunity to know God better, to strengthen your faith, and to grow in your understanding of Scripture. John sent messengers to Jesus in a moment of depression and doubt, but they returned with a message of hope. The same can happen to you, but only if you’re honest about your doubts and willing to reach out for the solution. If your faith is genuine, it can stand the test of a few doubts—and it will grow stronger for it.