Faith Through Doubt: Wrestling Toward Deeper Strength

Wrestling with God isn’t losing faith—it’s how faith grows stronger.

Soul Force Sundays

When Faith Feels Fragile

There are seasons when faith feels effortless — when prayers are answered, doors open, and peace flows easily.
And then there are seasons when faith feels like work.

We look around and see pain, injustice, and heartbreak. We wonder why a loving God would allow such suffering — why good people endure unbearable trials while others seem to move through life untouched.

It’s not hard to understand why so many are “falling away.” The world can feel chaotic and cruel. Belief can start to feel naïve.

But God has never asked us to have perfect understanding.
He asks us to trust in the middle of the mystery.

Faith, at its core, is choosing to believe when the evidence is incomplete — to stand firm when the ground beneath us feels uncertain. It’s the quiet strength to whisper, “Even if not… He is still good.”

The Purpose of the Wrestle

The scriptures remind us that “there must needs be opposition in all things.” (2 Nephi 2:11)
Without darkness, light has no contrast. Without struggle, strength never forms.

The wrestle is not a sign of weakness; it is part of the divine design.

Even the most faithful wrestle with doubt. The scriptures are full of it—Job crying out in anguish, Peter sinking beneath the waves, Joseph in the prison cell before the palace. Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it’s often the doorway to a more mature one.

When we stop pretending that faith means never questioning, we can begin to understand that wrestling with God is not rebellion—it’s relationship.

Faith is not blind optimism or naïve trust.
It’s choosing to believe when understanding hasn’t yet arrived. It’s holding on when your grip is slipping. It’s trusting that what feels like breaking may actually be refining.

As the Book of Mormon teaches, “There must needs be opposition in all things.” (2 Nephi 2:11) Without it, growth would be impossible. Without pain, compassion would remain theory. Without darkness, light would have no meaning.

The refiner’s fire is not punishment; it’s preparation.
When metal is purified, it is heated until everything false, everything impure, rises to the surface. Only then can it be skimmed away, leaving something stronger, truer, and more radiant.

God does the same with us.
He allows the heat — not to destroy us, but to make us radiant, able to reflect His image more clearly.

When God Feels Silent

Perhaps the hardest test of faith is divine silence.
When prayers seem to echo back unanswered, we start to wonder if God has withdrawn. But silence does not mean absence.

Sometimes God is quiet because the lesson is unfolding within us.
Sometimes we are in the “three days” between crucifixion and resurrection — the space where hope feels buried, yet redemption is already in motion.

Faith is not found in the absence of doubt, but in the decision to keep showing up anyway.
To keep praying when you don’t feel heard.
To keep seeking when answers don’t come easily.
To keep trusting that the story isn’t over.

Forged in Fire

True faith is not inherited — it is forged.
It’s the faith of those who have walked through fire and come out changed.
It’s the faith that can look at the world’s pain and still declare, “Nevertheless, I will trust.”

When life tests us, we are not being destroyed; we are being strengthened.
We are being taught to walk by faith, not by sight.
To rely less on certainty and more on character.

Our faith becomes deeper not in spite of our doubts, but through them.

Call to Reflection

• Where in your life right now are you wrestling with God?

• What question or hardship could become your invitation to deeper faith?

• When have you seen God’s hand most clearly after the struggle was over?

Take a quiet moment to sit with these questions this week. Write. Pray. Reflect.
Don’t be afraid of the wrestle — it’s holy ground.

A Closing Thought

“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” — Isaiah 48:10

Faith is not the absence of doubt.
It is the courage to hold on when you cannot see.
It is the strength that comes only after the fire.

So if your faith feels fragile today, know this:
God is still in the story.
He’s still refining you.
And you are stronger than you realize.