{"id":100,"date":"2012-04-13T13:37:18","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T13:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=100"},"modified":"2012-04-13T13:37:18","modified_gmt":"2012-04-13T13:37:18","slug":"doubts-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2012\/04\/doubts-questions.html","title":{"rendered":"Doubts & Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the privilege this week of speaking in Fort Worth for Lifeline Chaplaincy based out of Houston. They place good and godly chaplains in hospitals in Texas. A great group!<\/span><\/p>\n

While there I had breakfast with a special friend. I hadn’t seen her for some years but she is the kind of friend that you pick up where you left off. We were sharing our hearts. (Isn’t it great to have those kinds of friends? No masks needed.)<\/p>\n

During our conversation we talked about doubts and questions and the role they have in our Christian life. So often we in the Evangelical community are made to feel that we cannot doubt or question. Once we make Jesus Lord of our lives all things are nailed down, tucked in and neat. It’s not supposed to be messy and, if it is we dare not let it show.<\/p>\n

Well…that’s baloney! Life is messy. Even the Christian life is messy if it is real. Questions and doubts come. We need not feel condemned.<\/p>\n

What if David had never doubted or asked questions? We would not have the most treasured book in the Bible, Psalms. What if Jeremiah hadn’t argued with God and doubted? \u00a0Or Job? We wouldn’t have the comfort of their agonizing struggles that we can identify with when we walk in “the dark night of the soul”. Or what if King Solomon hadn’t asked about the meaning of life?\u00a0We wouldn’t have the wisdom of his book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No, doubts drive us to questions and questions drive us to the quest for answers. Welcome your questions and doubts but beware that they keep God out. Invite God into the process of your quest for answers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the privilege this week of speaking in Fort Worth for Lifeline Chaplaincy based out of Houston. They place good and godly chaplains in hospitals in Texas. A great group! While there I had breakfast with a special friend. 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No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. 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