Questions to God: How can we have faith? February 1, 2026

God, how can we have faith in you? And how do we keep faith in times of difficulty? Trying to answer these questions of faith is a feat that leads to more questions. God, are you real? And if you are real, are you worth my loyalty?

At the start of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, everyone believed in God and people made decisions based on which church was truly following God. Then things changed. Use of the printing press spread, the Scientific Revolution began, democracy took root, and people started asking questions. For the first time, they stopped automatically assuming God existed.

Having faith begins with an awareness that both transcendent and imminent thinking exist. Transcendent thinking is the realm of spirituality, ideas, and cosmic order. The focus of imminent thinking is on earthiness, physicality, and natural order. In other words, it’s a comparison of things we can and cannot see.

In a quest for a perfect understanding of God, some people reject everything that is not religious and they do not tolerate questions. This behavior never works, because Jesus is the only person in Scripture who had perfect faith. Everyone else doubted or failed in some way. Trusting that God is real is to have confidence in something we cannot see.

If God is real, is God worth my loyalty? When we acknowledge that God is really the creator of the universe and the Savior who comforts and protects, loyalty to God makes sense. The question about faith in times of difficulty is really a question about loyalty. However, we have trust issues when bad things happen and God doesn’t intervene. Ultimately, God knows things we don’t and that power makes God worth our loyalty.

If you have questions and doubts about faith, it’s okay. God never promised to make our lives easy or pain free. Instead, God’s promise was to be with us, to comfort us, and save us for a mission worthy of our whole lives.