What Lies Beneath

When did you last have a conversation like this over coffee after church?

      "Hi, how are you?"
      "Not so good actually - I've spent the whole week wondering if God is even real.
      How about you?"
     "Hmmm... thinking that I'm not sure I'm a christian at all after this week…"

Though we often struggle to admit it, doubt comes the way of every Christian in the course of their life of faith. Doubts of various kinds can overwhelm believers of any age and stage - even those who are mature in their faith and heavily involved in Christian ministry. But we find it difficult to even admit it to others, let alone find the help we need to deal with it sensibly and productively.

I remember the shock of discovering a friend had completely abandoned his faith in Christ, just a week after hearing him preach a terrific sermon. "How could it happen so quickly?" I thought. And the answer is it didn't. Doubt must have begun years before and allowed to grow unaddressed. It had been kept in the dark and supressed. And in that dark warmth it had grown from an honest question into a dark cancer to the soul. In due course, it had burst out into the open, leaving a trail of devastation behind it in the lives of everyone who knew him.

That's part of the reason I'm delighted we are publishing John Steven's new book on Doubt: How can I be sure? It aims to help ordinary Christians think through those questions that we push to the back of our minds, and show how important it is to address doubt in ourselves, before it turns into something damaging and destructive.

We'll be publishing some extracts over the next few days on the blog, but do get hold of a copy, please. It will take away the embarrassment and fear of talking about doubt, so that we can encourage one another properly. Even if you are someone who has never had a moment of doubt in your life, you'll be equipped to sympathise with those who have and do struggle with doubt on a regular basis.

But wonderfully, it is a book that will take you beyond doubt into how it is possible to use our experiences of doubt to grow into a mature, confident, assured faith in Christ.

How can I be sure? is part of the best-selling Questions Christians Ask series. It is available here or from The Good Book Company website.