Do our doubts upset God?

Tl;dr : No.

If you're like me and need a little more exposition than that, let's dive into the longer answer.

Doubts are not something we talk about in polite church-culture. We don't mention our questions. We bite our tongues and pray that God takes our doubts away. Doubts are prickly burrs, that can grow and become an engulfing wave of pain -- questions that lead us away from the Table of God and into the Wilderness.

Some of us have been conditioned from such an early age not to ask those questions, or feel those feelings. We've been told that good Christians don't have doubts about their faith -- they are unwavering in their certainty. Doubts are the opposite of faith, so if you have doubts, you must not be a REAL believer.

Y'all, here's the thing: faith, like life, is not easy or simple.

I have been in "professional" ministry the majority of my adult life, and I've still felt myself in the isolating, cool shade of the Wilderness. If anyone should have all the answers, it's people like me -- who have been born into a family of faith, attended nothing but private Christian schools, heavily involved in churches, running and leading and striving for the Cross daily. I don't have all the answers, at all, though. In fact, I actually have more questions now at 25 than I did when I was saved at 12.

Here's my scary truth: I have doubts. I have questions.

Why does God seemingly condone violence in the Old Testament, but Jesus refutes it in the New?

Why is it wrong or sinful to be LGBTQ?

Why, when the bible mentions wives submitting to their husbands, do these verses come immediately after verses that talk about slaves submitting to their masters?

Oh yes, I have questions. Far more than the ones I've outlined here.

Rachel Held Evans once wrote in her book A Year of Biblical Womanhood, "I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t actually read it.”

Whether you are in the Wilderness now, or have been, or may be, the truth is this: God can handle your brutal, messy, complicated questions and doubts. He is not turned off or going away because you have issues to work through.

Isaiah 1:18 says this: "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

"Let us reason together, says the Lord..."

Let us reason together, God says. Let's talk about this stuff. Let's figure it out, work it out.

Or sometimes, God responds to us the way He did to Job -- not by answering our questions, but simply by Being God.

Either way, God is not hurt by your doubts. He does not take them as personal attacks or maliciously. If He did, what kind of god would He be?

He is big enough to handle your anger, your doubts, your fears. He's not bothered by them in the least. He will still be God even if you cease to believe that as being true.

Our faith is one of mystery. And Hebrews 11:1 sums up "faith" so beautifully: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Having faith is not about having all the answers; having faith is about having hope.