Have you ever doubted God? Have you ever felt like you had more questions than answers, wondering, does God care about me? Are you in my situation? I’ve been there. I’ve struggled with doubts, and it’s an especially strong struggle when I’m going through hard times.
Here’s a little of my story. My wife, Meryl, and I have been married for 16 years. We have three kids. It’s girl, boy, girl. My youngest is 6 years old, and we have a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. My youngest daughter is adopted from India.
Adoption was something that my wife and I had always wanted to do. So, early on in our marriage, we talked about it, and when we were ready, we took our first step. Typically an international adoption takes about a year, sometimes a year and a half. Well, we were about that far into our process when we were matched with a little boy. And we were so excited! We thought, great, we’re having a boy!
We picked out his name, and we were just thrilled to the moon. Well, shortly after that, the authorities and the organizations that were involved said they had made a mistake, and this little boy was not going to be coming home with us—he was going to another family. We were heartbroken, and we were also devastated because we thought we were doing what God asked us to do. We thought we were in the center of His will for us.
And so we wondered, where did we go wrong? We had all these questions, and we had all these doubts, asking, God, why are you allowing us to go through this? This doesn’t make any sense.
Have you felt that? Where you’ve doubted God, maybe even right now? Maybe, like I was, you’re in a season where you’re doubting, and you’re unsure of the things that you believed in the past. Maybe you’re thinking: Does God care for me? If He does, why am I going through hard times?
In the middle of going through hard times, we had to make a decision. Do we allow the doubts to control our thoughts? Or do we allow the Word of God to control our thoughts?
I know that season was really tough for us. And so in the middle of going through hard times, we had to make a decision. Do we allow the doubts to control our thoughts? Or do we allow the Word of God to control our thoughts? Ultimately, we had to make an intentional decision to say, God, we’re going to choose to fix our eyes on You.
I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to get distracted. The doubts can become so loud and annoying. It’s like they’re in your face, so you have to be intentional about choosing not to focus on the doubts but to focus on what Scripture says.
Scripture says that my God is with me. Scripture says that my God is for me. Scripture says that no matter what is happening in my life, God will never leave me nor forsake me. Scripture reminds us that God does care. Deeply. And that’s what we held onto.
To make a long story short, we were eventually connected with my youngest daughter, and I can’t imagine my life without her. But regardless of the outcome, here’s what’s true: Whatever you’re going through, you’re not going through it alone.
Don’t let the doubts overtake your thoughts. Don’t let those doubts be the lord of your life. Allow the Word of God to lead you to Jesus Christ, and let Him be the Lord of your life—not anything else that the world throws at you.
So, what do you know? What does Scripture say? God is for you. God is with you. And He promises never to leave you nor forsake you. So hold on to that truth—even when you’re going through hard times—because that truth is what will set you free.