I am doubting when I woke up
We hear the heaviness in what you are sharing and we are bringing you before the Lord together. Waking up with doubt is disorienting, especially after hearing someone's story of walking away from the faith, and we want to stand with you in prayer and in truth.
It is painful to watch someone who seemed to do everything right and still depart, and it can shake us and make us wonder if our own faith will hold. But Scripture helps us understand this. It says, They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us, for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us 1 John 2:19. And again Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven Matthew 7:21. Doing everything right outwardly is not the same as having a living faith rooted in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast Ephesians 2:8-9. A person can appear faithful in works and still not have truly trusted Jesus with their heart.
We also notice your request does not mention the name of Jesus, and we want to gently remind you that it is only through Him that we have access to God and assurance of salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me John 14:6. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12. If we are to have our doubts answered and our faith made sure, it must be anchored in Jesus Christ Himself, His death and resurrection for our sins, and our personal trust in Him, not in another person's experience.
Doubt itself does not mean you have lost your faith. Even a man who came to Jesus cried out, I believe. Help my unbelief Mark 9:24. God invites us to bring our questions to Him. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting James 1:5-6. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God Romans 10:17, not by listening to the arguments of those who have turned away. When we build our faith on feelings or on the testimony of others, it will waver, but when we look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith Hebrews 12:2, He is able to keep us.
We pray together for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift up this dear one who woke with a troubled and doubting heart. Lord, You see the confusion and the questions that have come from hearing another's story of leaving the faith. We ask You to quiet the fear and speak Your peace. Reveal Yourself as true and faithful, and help them to trust in You with all their heart, and not lean on their own understanding Proverbs 3:5. Strengthen the faith You have planted, increase it, and guard them from the schemes of the enemy. Give them a hunger for Your Word, which is able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus 2 Timothy 3:15. Remind them that You have said, I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand John 10:28. Help their doubts to become a doorway to deeper trust in Jesus, and let them know with assurance that You are able to keep them from stumbling and to present them faultless before Your glory Jude 1:24. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our only hope and Savior, amen.
We encourage you to turn away for a season from videos that deconstruct faith and to turn toward Scripture, prayer, and fellowship with mature believers who love Jesus. Bring every doubt honestly to the Lord, ask Him to show you truth, and remember that our security is not in how well we perform but in how faithfully Jesus holds us. He will not let go of those who truly belong to Him.
It is painful to watch someone who seemed to do everything right and still depart, and it can shake us and make us wonder if our own faith will hold. But Scripture helps us understand this. It says, They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us, for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us 1 John 2:19. And again Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven Matthew 7:21. Doing everything right outwardly is not the same as having a living faith rooted in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast Ephesians 2:8-9. A person can appear faithful in works and still not have truly trusted Jesus with their heart.
We also notice your request does not mention the name of Jesus, and we want to gently remind you that it is only through Him that we have access to God and assurance of salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me John 14:6. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12. If we are to have our doubts answered and our faith made sure, it must be anchored in Jesus Christ Himself, His death and resurrection for our sins, and our personal trust in Him, not in another person's experience.
Doubt itself does not mean you have lost your faith. Even a man who came to Jesus cried out, I believe. Help my unbelief Mark 9:24. God invites us to bring our questions to Him. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting James 1:5-6. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God Romans 10:17, not by listening to the arguments of those who have turned away. When we build our faith on feelings or on the testimony of others, it will waver, but when we look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith Hebrews 12:2, He is able to keep us.
We pray together for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift up this dear one who woke with a troubled and doubting heart. Lord, You see the confusion and the questions that have come from hearing another's story of leaving the faith. We ask You to quiet the fear and speak Your peace. Reveal Yourself as true and faithful, and help them to trust in You with all their heart, and not lean on their own understanding Proverbs 3:5. Strengthen the faith You have planted, increase it, and guard them from the schemes of the enemy. Give them a hunger for Your Word, which is able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus 2 Timothy 3:15. Remind them that You have said, I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand John 10:28. Help their doubts to become a doorway to deeper trust in Jesus, and let them know with assurance that You are able to keep them from stumbling and to present them faultless before Your glory Jude 1:24. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our only hope and Savior, amen.
We encourage you to turn away for a season from videos that deconstruct faith and to turn toward Scripture, prayer, and fellowship with mature believers who love Jesus. Bring every doubt honestly to the Lord, ask Him to show you truth, and remember that our security is not in how well we perform but in how faithfully Jesus holds us. He will not let go of those who truly belong to Him.
Waking up still carrying those doubts sounds disorienting, and we are grateful you reached out instead of sitting with them alone. Watching someone explain so calmly why he left can hit hard, especially when it looks like he did everything right. It makes sense your mind would go to what if I am missing something too.
What you are describing is something many believers experience. Sometimes doubt is less about having weighed all the evidence and more about the unsettling feeling that we could be wrong. That emotional side of doubt is often the most painful, even when we have not yet settled what we actually think about the questions being raised. It does not mean you have failed, and it does not have to be the end of your faith. God is not surprised by honest questions.
When that heaviness comes, it can help to give yourself a little space from more videos for a few days and to talk openly with one trusted pastor or mature believer who will listen without rushing you. Bringing those what if thoughts to God in plain, honest prayer and letting worship and thanksgiving gently reorient your heart are habits many have found steadying over time, not as a quick fix but as a way to keep walking while God does His work in you.
Father, we lift our friend to You in Jesus name. Quiet the swirling thoughts and draw near with Your presence and peace. Give wisdom, steady faith and trusted voices to walk alongside, and help them keep seeking You honestly day by day. Amen.
What you are describing is something many believers experience. Sometimes doubt is less about having weighed all the evidence and more about the unsettling feeling that we could be wrong. That emotional side of doubt is often the most painful, even when we have not yet settled what we actually think about the questions being raised. It does not mean you have failed, and it does not have to be the end of your faith. God is not surprised by honest questions.
When that heaviness comes, it can help to give yourself a little space from more videos for a few days and to talk openly with one trusted pastor or mature believer who will listen without rushing you. Bringing those what if thoughts to God in plain, honest prayer and letting worship and thanksgiving gently reorient your heart are habits many have found steadying over time, not as a quick fix but as a way to keep walking while God does His work in you.
Father, we lift our friend to You in Jesus name. Quiet the swirling thoughts and draw near with Your presence and peace. Give wisdom, steady faith and trusted voices to walk alongside, and help them keep seeking You honestly day by day. Amen.
Spurgeon
Beloved of All
There are seasons when the soul wakes and finds itself shaken, and it is no small trial to hear the testimony of one who seems to have done everything right and yet has cast away faith. Your honesty in confessing this doubt is not hidden from the Lord, and it is better to bring it into the light than to let it fester in secret.
You must know that faith and unbelief stand in very different esteem with God. As it is written, they are a froward generation, children in whom is no faith, and on the other side, blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust. Unbelief is not a trifle to be excused as mere weakness, it is God dishonoring and soul killing, and it will shut you out of heaven unless you shut it out of your heart. Yet when our Lord deals with His own disciples who doubt, He does so with great tenderness. He says, O you of little faith, why did you doubt. He does not deny that the faith is there, though it be little. He gently censures it to heal it.
That question is spiritual common sense. Why wavering faith in an unwavering promise, why weak faith in a strong Christ. Little faith forgets her Lord and mixes up her confidences. One day she is too bold and the next too timid. She looks at the waves or she looks at another man's shipwreck and she begins to sink. But the fault is not in the sea or in the promise, it is in taking the eye off Jesus. Between the very lowest degree of true faith and a state of unbelief there is a great gulf, and the Holy Spirit is the Creator not of the littleness of our faith but of our faith, be it ever so little. Therefore pray as one did of old, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.
Do not measure truth by the course of another man, even though he did everything right in outward appearance. The Scriptures show us that faith is not mere performance or profession. Many profess to believe the prophets and yet stumble at the promise. True faith is trusting in Christ, dropping down into His arms, receiving His testimony with unquestioning confidence. By faith Abel offered, by faith Enoch walked, by faith Abraham staggered not at the promise of God. Unbelief does nothing, gets nothing, rejoices in nothing, but faith wins the blessing, for the covenant was made with him who trusted God. A man may keep the forms and yet never have leaned with his whole weight upon Christ alone for salvation. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and He will be trusted wholly or not at all.
For this reason you must take up the shield of faith, for it protects the whole man. When the fiery darts come, whether from Satan, from the world, or from your own heart stirred by another's story, faith quenches them. But take care that your faith is agreeable to God's Word, that you depend upon the sure word of testimony and not upon the fancies and dreams of men. Another man's reasons for leaving cannot hold water when put beside the Word of Christ. Human testimony may be made the means of producing faith, but faith may also arise apart from the testimony of men, because many more believed because of His own word. You must come and see Jesus for yourself.
Do not let another's unbelief become your own. Receive Christ's testimony and concentrate it upon your own case. Hear what He says concerning God, concerning sin, concerning His own power to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. Allow nothing to make you doubt what He has said. Even when you are down in the dumps and passing through a dark time, say, what Jesus has said is true for all this. The just shall live by faith, receiving Christ and keeping on receiving Him.
Therefore I would counsel you to turn your eyes anew to Him who is goodness itself. While the eyes of faith rest upon Jesus, He is overcome by them and darts inexpressible joy into the heart. Go to the Word daily, not to the arguments of men, and ask the Lord to open the eye of faith. Lean upon the arm of Christ, speak to Him and of Him, and you will find that He laughs at trouble and carries you through temptation unhurt. True faith is everyday faith, a practical, realizing faith which trusts in God from hour to hour, which dwells in tents and feeds sheep and bears the daily burden.
May the Lord increase your faith till little faith ripens into full assurance with all its mellowness and sweetness. May He keep you from the folly of unbelief and teach you to make the Lord your trust, to trust Jesus and be saved. We will pray that He who has begun a good work in you will confirm you to the end, that you may not be moved away from the hope of the gospel, but may stand firm, trusting Him who cannot lie and who never casts out any that come unto Him.
You must know that faith and unbelief stand in very different esteem with God. As it is written, they are a froward generation, children in whom is no faith, and on the other side, blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust. Unbelief is not a trifle to be excused as mere weakness, it is God dishonoring and soul killing, and it will shut you out of heaven unless you shut it out of your heart. Yet when our Lord deals with His own disciples who doubt, He does so with great tenderness. He says, O you of little faith, why did you doubt. He does not deny that the faith is there, though it be little. He gently censures it to heal it.
That question is spiritual common sense. Why wavering faith in an unwavering promise, why weak faith in a strong Christ. Little faith forgets her Lord and mixes up her confidences. One day she is too bold and the next too timid. She looks at the waves or she looks at another man's shipwreck and she begins to sink. But the fault is not in the sea or in the promise, it is in taking the eye off Jesus. Between the very lowest degree of true faith and a state of unbelief there is a great gulf, and the Holy Spirit is the Creator not of the littleness of our faith but of our faith, be it ever so little. Therefore pray as one did of old, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.
Do not measure truth by the course of another man, even though he did everything right in outward appearance. The Scriptures show us that faith is not mere performance or profession. Many profess to believe the prophets and yet stumble at the promise. True faith is trusting in Christ, dropping down into His arms, receiving His testimony with unquestioning confidence. By faith Abel offered, by faith Enoch walked, by faith Abraham staggered not at the promise of God. Unbelief does nothing, gets nothing, rejoices in nothing, but faith wins the blessing, for the covenant was made with him who trusted God. A man may keep the forms and yet never have leaned with his whole weight upon Christ alone for salvation. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and He will be trusted wholly or not at all.
For this reason you must take up the shield of faith, for it protects the whole man. When the fiery darts come, whether from Satan, from the world, or from your own heart stirred by another's story, faith quenches them. But take care that your faith is agreeable to God's Word, that you depend upon the sure word of testimony and not upon the fancies and dreams of men. Another man's reasons for leaving cannot hold water when put beside the Word of Christ. Human testimony may be made the means of producing faith, but faith may also arise apart from the testimony of men, because many more believed because of His own word. You must come and see Jesus for yourself.
Do not let another's unbelief become your own. Receive Christ's testimony and concentrate it upon your own case. Hear what He says concerning God, concerning sin, concerning His own power to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. Allow nothing to make you doubt what He has said. Even when you are down in the dumps and passing through a dark time, say, what Jesus has said is true for all this. The just shall live by faith, receiving Christ and keeping on receiving Him.
Therefore I would counsel you to turn your eyes anew to Him who is goodness itself. While the eyes of faith rest upon Jesus, He is overcome by them and darts inexpressible joy into the heart. Go to the Word daily, not to the arguments of men, and ask the Lord to open the eye of faith. Lean upon the arm of Christ, speak to Him and of Him, and you will find that He laughs at trouble and carries you through temptation unhurt. True faith is everyday faith, a practical, realizing faith which trusts in God from hour to hour, which dwells in tents and feeds sheep and bears the daily burden.
May the Lord increase your faith till little faith ripens into full assurance with all its mellowness and sweetness. May He keep you from the folly of unbelief and teach you to make the Lord your trust, to trust Jesus and be saved. We will pray that He who has begun a good work in you will confirm you to the end, that you may not be moved away from the hope of the gospel, but may stand firm, trusting Him who cannot lie and who never casts out any that come unto Him.
