For those who Struggle With Faith and the Demands of Life

When you’re struggling with faith, it can feel like your life’s purpose, friendships, family relationships, and understanding of the world are all under threat. So, allowing yourself to ask hard questions about what you believe takes a lot of courage.  It’s normal to have questions about God. Sometimes taking faith and the questions it poses seriously means struggling with faith. And sometimes it causes you to have doubts. But as long as there’s a kernel of belief left in you; you have not lost your faith. In fact, questioning your faith is often how you grow it.

A seed of faith buried deep in the ground has a shell of protection around it to shield it from the elements. When a sapling sheds the protection of the seed to poke its head above the ground, it is vulnerable to wind, rain, snow, and animals. But its roots keep it anchored to the ground. And the tugs of the wind and the rain actually help to strengthen the sapling into a tree that can withstand torrential storms without a shell. Your faith is the same.

If you’ve started asking the hard questions, you’ve already started to poke out of your protective shell. 

Pretending you haven’t thought of questions that you are afraid to answer is like trying to force toothpaste back into its tube. It’s not going to work. And that might be a good thing. Faith was never meant to be static or unchanging. Questioning your faith means you are taking seriously the task of pursuing truth and figuring out what it means to live according to it. This is what discipleship is all about!

There’s good news! You don’t have to wrestle with your doubts on your own. Our church is here for you! One of our core values is to be a church that is prodigal friendly.  That means we accept people like they are but trust that God’s truth and grace will not leave us that way.  He can and will change us if we are willing to surrender our hurts, hang-ups, and habits and accept His plan for our lives.

At Peace Baptist we have various support and study groups that will assist you in making the life changes you need to make. We have:

• Celebrate Recovery for those dealing with all sorts of addictive and debilitating life issues. 
• Grief Share for those who are struggling with various types of loss.
• Alzheimer’s Support to aid caregivers who are attending to someone going through Alzheimer’s or other forms of memory loss.
• Divorce Care to help individuals recover from the termination of a marriage.
• Counseling and Pastoral Care support services for adults and youth.
• Many of other ministries for men, women, singles, and married couples

Grappling with the hardest questions about faith is like cooking tough cuts of meat. When you try to cook the tough cuts fast, they only get tougher and harder to digest. If you didn’t know better, you might throw out or avoid these tough cuts of meat. But when you take the time to slowly break it down in a barbecue pit or crockpot, the toughest and most gristly meat can become the most tender, delicious, and flavorful meal. 

Visit our pastoral care page for more resources to help you heal and find the answers you need.