- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Don’t have a great recovery story for you. I’m still fighting this thing daily. And even though your thoughts look different than mine, I understand them completely. What I can tell you is this: I do believe in God, and I believe that there’s always room for doubt in faith. It’s good to struggle with our faith, and God understands that struggle. When we start claiming things with certainty, it not longer impacts our life; you can set it on the shelf and be done with it. But no one has it all figured out, and like most experts on this site would agree, it’s good to make space for the doubt. And if it helps, know that there’s at least one person out here talking to Jesus for you and believing for you; rest in grace for a while =)
- Date posted
- 5y
Thanks so much- just having someone say that they understand what I’m going through is a comfort. I’ll keep what you said in mind. Thanks for talking to Jesus for me, I’ll do the same for you :)
- Date posted
- 5y
This troubled me from about age 13-21. I highly recommend googling Gary Habermas’s work on different kinds of doubt. A friend who knew about my struggles loaned me a recording of his lecture (I’m old—we had CDs back then lol). He talks about three different kinds of doubt: volitional, factual, and emotional. He responds to email, too. He’s gotten so many emails from listeners and readers that he has pastors who volunteer to guide people through their doubts and help them figure out which of the three their dealing with. Hope this helps.
- Date posted
- 5y
Google “The Thomas Factor” by Gary Habermas. It’s a free PDF of his book. You can also find his lectures on “Emotional Doubt” on YouTube.
- Date posted
- 5y
Awesome, thank you! I’ll definitely check out that recourse. I’m happy to hear that you overcame this struggle!
- Date posted
- 5y
I can relate to this so much its scary . I feel like I wrote this myself. I keep looking for proof , praying & asking for God to show himself to me so my faith will increase. Only difference is I start convincing myself I'm going to hell for doubting. Or that i only believe because I want to comfort my fear of death. Ugh. I have to keep reminding myself of all he's done for me. Its a struggle .
- Date posted
- 5y
I’ve definitely had those other thoughts you mention, too. I’m just trying to sit with the thoughts and hold on to the belief that God will never leave me nor forsake me, but it’s definitely is hard to trust that.
- Date posted
- 28w
It's not my place to tell anyone else anything. But I let go of my faith in deified figures. My faith is simply in source.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 18w
OCD has decided to latch onto my religion (Christianity) and I find myself doubting my belief in Jesus Christ. Yet when I research, I even find myself doubting the atheistic and agnostic approach as well. I’ve been a Christian since I was 13, growing up in a non-Christian in truth but nominally Christian household. This is rough. Any advice?
- Date posted
- 18w
Hello everyone. I was just wanting to post on here regarding a situation that I have been dealing with for a few months now. I have been taking my walk with Christ seriously for about a year now and ever since I started I’ve noticed a bunch of intrusive thoughts and it’s caused me much distress. It all started back in June of 2024. I missed a church service because my wife and I were taking care of our daughter and I went to a Best But store and upgraded my old Apple Watch to a new one. I felt like doing so I committed idolatry because I went and bought that instead of going to church. I felt immense guilt for doing so and the next day I cancelled my order. I thought that maybe I was over thinking the entire thing so I went ahead and placed a new order and got the watch. For two weeks after getting the watch, I ruminated about whether I should keep it or not. It didn’t feel right with me and was overwhelmed with guilt for having it and it was debilitated with anxiety and stress. Eventually I decided I would just give it back so I went to go return it on the last day I could do so only to find out I could not. I thought that was a sign from God that I could keep it. I felt the most relief after that that I had experienced in quite awhile but then the next day after I started have thoughts again thinking that I didn’t try hard enough to return it and that I’m some how putting it before God. Well eventually I came to terms that there was nothing I could do about it and I was able to stop worrying about it being an idol. Well my mind jumped from that to another thing in my life and this one has been harder to get over. I have been on hair loss medication for 7 years and I had a thought one day telling me that “if I’m a true follower of Christ, then I shouldn’t take the medicine because I’m placing too much importance on my looks” I again felt immense anxiety and dread and tried fighting these thoughts away but could not help but think” what if it is and this is conviction of the Holy spirit”? I would constantly look up online any answers I could find to help relieve my anxiety but I can’t. I pray to God all the time for his will to be done in this situation and sometimes I feel better but then it all comes back. It’s hard for me to read the Bible because there’s so much about idolatry I always feel like it’s God talking to me like it’s a sign or if I’m just taking it that way? I asked God to show give me an answer about this situation and a day later a YouTuber I follow posted a video about removing idols from our lives. I felt that was God speaking to me or wasn’t sure maybe it was a coincidence? I just feel so cornered and out under so much pressure on what to do. Of course I would like to keep taking my medicine because it has helped me but then I have thoughts that tell me it is an idol because I am not able to give it up. I cut back taking the medicine a lot more often over the last months but I don’t know if this is God telling me to do so or my own mind. Like if I want to keep my hair I believe God allows healing through medication and it’s a gift. But these thoughts are telling me that I rely on taking it and it’s an idol and that unless I give it up completely I’m not following God’s will and it’s an idol. It’s caused immense doubt because then I read Romans 14 and it says anything you do with doubt is sin because it’s not of faith. I feel like I’m being attacked and cornered because I’m forced to stop taking something that has helped me. Now I have thoughts telling me to stop wearing my retainers every night because I got Invisalign a few years back to fix my teeth and that unless I stop taking my medication and wearing my retainers I’m not authentically following God. I don’t know what to do at this point. I don’t want to go against God and I don’t want to commit idolatry. I know God is all loving so I doubt this is all coming from him. I have to take/wear these things daily for them to work and the ocd will twist that in saying they are idols because of that and I just feel so cornered and defeated. I try to find things constantly online to see if anyone else has similar issues but I can’t. I know this is a long post but just trying to get some clarity on the matter. What should I do to help my situation?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 15w
So I’m not sure how many/if any of you are Christians, but I’m assuming this can still make sense to some of you. This morning has been rough. I’m constantly thinking, “am I saved? Have I never been saved and I’m tricking myself into thinking I am? When I’m listening to Christian music am I doing for the right reasons? Is it too late for me?”. Things I know the truthful answers to but yet I still think these thoughts. I don’t understand why. Why do I constantly think about these “what if”’s? My heart always feels so heavy and I feel as if I need to talk to God right then and there to make it stop and go away. But then am I talking to the Lord for the wrong reasons? And the cycle repeats. Thankfully, day one of my therapy is tonight and I’m hoping to find at least a little clarity on this stuff. I’ve had OCD for 7 years and I don’t even know how it works. Any advice?
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