How Am I Supposed to Believe This?

This question is the reason this blog exists.

How am I supposed to believe this?

It is the question my son asked me in the car after church. It is the question I’ve asked myself quietly for most of my life. It is the question that sits underneath many conversations people have about faith.

Because the Bible does not start small. It begins with creation from nothing. A talking serpent that represents evil. A flood that wipes the world clean. A tower that collapses because no one can communicate. Miracles that break the rules of nature. A sea that parts. A fire that speaks. It is A LOT.

And if you grew up like I did, kind of believing in God but never understanding any of this, the natural reaction is to think, how could this possibly be real?

I used to think that having faith meant you were required to shut off part of your brain. The logical part. Now I’m learning that real faith actually begins with questions like this. You are not wrong for wondering. You are human for wondering.

And if I’m honest I’m still skeptical. With so much to learn. I do believe in Jesus. I believe he was the son of God and that He lived, was crucified, and rose three days later. The earth being six thousand years old? I’m not there yet. But I do believe there is more going on in this world than we usually see.

Bible Connection

The Bible never asks us to believe blindly. Almost every major figure in Scripture wrestled with doubt before they believed anything.

In Genesis, Adam and Eve struggled to trust God’s instructions even when they had everything they needed. Abraham trusted God one day and doubted the next. At one point he literally said, “How can I know that I will gain this?” (Genesis 15:8). Jacob wrestled with God in the dark because he did not understand what God was doing (Genesis 32:24–30). Joseph only understood the purpose of his suffering years later, when he said, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

Then Exodus takes it even further. Moses doubted himself when God spoke to him from the burning bush. His first reaction was, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11). Later he said flat out, “Please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13). The Israelites doubted God at the Red Sea and said, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die?” (Exodus 14:11). They doubted in the wilderness when they ran out of food. They doubted at Mount Sinai while the Ten Commandments were being given, turning to a golden calf instead.

These were people who saw miracles with their own eyes and still had questions.

The theme continues in the New Testament. A father cried out to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24), which might be the most honest prayer in the entire Bible. That's one that I've been saying a version of every day for a while now.

Even after the resurrection, some of Jesus’ closest followers saw Him and still hesitated. “They worshiped Him, but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17). And Thomas spoke the line that so many of us think but rarely say out loud. “Unless I see the nail marks, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Jesus did not shame him. Jesus met him where he was and gave him what he needed in order to believe.

Belief in the Bible is almost never instant. It grows. It takes time. It takes questions. It takes experience.

Faith begins with curiosity, not certainty.

Reflection for You

You do not have to understand everything to begin believing something. Think about all the things you trust every day:

You cannot see gravity. Almost none of us understand how electricity works. You cannot measure love in a lab.

But you trust them because you see the evidence.

Faith works the same way. You follow the evidence. You ask hard questions. You keep your eyes open. You stay honest about what you see and what you don’t.

Believing the Bible does not require you to understand the age of the earth or solve every mystery in Genesis. What it asks is much simpler. Are you willing to look? Are you willing to learn? Are you willing to let the story unfold?

Faith grows when you explore, not when you pretend.

Talk About This

What makes belief difficult for you? Is it the miracles, the science questions, the history questions, or something more personal? And what would help you take one small step forward? More evidence? More understanding? More honesty? More experience?

Start there. That is where faith usually begins. Let's keep figuring it out together.

Now back to the Torah and on to Leviticus, a book that is....complicated. I'll try to break it down in a way that makes some sense.