I’ve been described as a “person of faith” or a “woman of strong faith”. People have admired and praised my continued faith in God after everything I’ve been through, and I won’t lie – I do think my faith has become one of my strengths in recent years. But the thing is, most people often think of faith as something strong and unwavering. It’s an assumption that faith means you’re certain and confident all the time, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The reality is that a lot of us would be familiar with another side of faith. This is the faith that doubts, that wrestles with questions, that sits with silence and unanswered prayers, that hangs on by a thread when we’re not even sure what we’re believing or praying for anymore. That, my friend, is the harsh reality of faith in hard seasons.

Maybe you’ve been going through a hard season, and you’re wondering whether your faith is enough. Or maybe you’re on the edge and wondering if you should keep holding on because the faith you have doesn’t seem to be making a difference. You might even be worried that your moments of doubt and questioning have undone whatever faith you have. Well, today I just want to encourage you to keep going, and to let you know that your faith is enough.

Doubt and questions don’t disqualify faith, just like silence doesn’t mean God isn’t doing anything. Sometimes, they actually grow your faith, because they deepen your honesty, humility, and dependence on God. It’s things like praying even when you don’t feel anything, or singing praise and worship when you don’t know what to pray, or trusting even when everything is quiet and you’re not getting the answers you want. It’s a place of surrender and obedience, and for most people, they need to go through the wrestle of doubt and questioning before they can reach that place.

Take for instance Moses and the burning bush. He doubted and he questioned God because he didn’t think he was the right person for the job, and yet he is now one of the Fathers of Faith. Then there’s Abraham and Sarah, who waited and waited for God to fulfill His promise of countless descendants; who would have doubted in the waiting and probably wondered if God really did say that or if He meant something else; who tried to take matters into their own hands using Hagar; who questioned how a baby was even possible at their ages. And yet Abraham became the father of many nations.

You can have faith and still have moments of doubt and questioning. In fact, I believe that my faith has only grown exponentially in the last three years of hardship, and in that time, I can assure you that I had many moments of doubt, and many more questions for God (some answered, some being answered, and some I’ll probably have to wait till I get to heaven to be answered). Because something I’ve learnt is that God welcomes the wrestle. Because it’s always in the fire that God will test you and refine you.

Faith doesn’t always have to be loud, confident, or “in your face”. Most of the time, faith is quiet and imperfect, but it’s the determination and decision to keep holding on and to keep trusting God no matter what happens that makes your faith real. Because faith isn’t something that a person just has; it’s a choice that they make to keep pursuing and growing, and believing that God is good, even if you don’t get what you prayed for.

So, keep showing up with your imperfect faith. Show up with your uncertainties, your doubts and your questions. God won’t ever turn you away or say that it’s not enough, but if you let Him, He’ll take your faith and turn it into something greater than gold. Because at the end of the day, all you need is faith as big as a mustard seed and that is enough for God.