What If I Want to Believe in God but I Just…Don’t?

Whether you grew up in a religious home or not, it’s not uncommon to wrestle with the idea of believing in God. For many people, faith sounds appealing. The idea that there is a God who knows us, cares for us, and gives meaning to our lives can bring a deep sense of hope. But at the same time, belief can feel complicated.

When you look at the world around you, and sometimes even at the church itself, it’s easy to feel frustrated or confused. You may find yourself wondering: Why should I believe in God? I might even want to believe…but I just don’t.

Research shows this struggle is more common than many people realize. The Pew Research Center has studied why people step away from religion and found several common reasons. Some wrestle with questions they feel they can’t answer. In fact, nearly half of those who leave the religion they grew up in say they did so because they stopped believing its teachings.

Others simply don’t see a need for religion at all. Many Americans say it’s possible to live a moral life without believing in God. And if we’re honest, most believers would say we know people who are kind, generous, and compassionate but don’t consider themselves religious.

For others, painful experiences with the church make belief difficult. Stories of church leaders failing morally make headlines far too often. Those failures don’t just hurt the people directly involved, they can also cause others to question whether faith is worth pursuing at all.

Sometimes the reason is less dramatic. People simply drift away. Many of us can think of friends or family members who were once deeply involved in church but gradually stepped away over time. When you see that happen, it can raise another question: If people who once believed strongly walk away, why should I try to believe in the first place?

Then there’s the deeper question many people carry when they look at the world itself. With so much suffering, injustice, and evil around us, it’s natural to wonder: If there really is a God who loves people, why doesn’t He do something about all of this?

There are plenty of reasons people give for why they don’t believe in God.

And yet, when we look honestly at the brokenness of the world and sometimes the struggles within our own lives, it can also feel difficult to believe that there’s nothing beyond what we can see. Many people still find themselves longing for something outside of themselves to hold onto…something that offers real hope.

So what do we do with that tension?

That’s what I want to explore.

Why Belief Isn’t Always Simple

One reason belief can be difficult is that it requires faith: trust in something we cannot physically see. The Bible describes faith this way:

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

That can feel like a big ask. In a world where we’re used to verifying things with our eyes, our experiences, or scientific proof, believing in an unseen God doesn’t always come naturally.

There’s a scene in The Santa Clause 2 that captures this tension well. Charlie, the son of Scott Calvin, tries to convince his future stepmom that his dad is actually Santa Claus. As an adult, she struggles to accept it. Santa is something she once believed in as a child, but now it seems impossible. Scott doesn’t look like Santa. He lives an ordinary life on earth. Does he really have flying reindeer? How could any of this be possible?

As she tries to make sense of it all, the pieces just don’t seem to add up.

In some ways, believing in Jesus can feel similar. Christians believe that God came to earth as a human being, lived among us, and willingly took on the consequences of sin that He never earned. That’s a profound claim.

Even during Jesus’ lifetime, many people struggled to believe He was the Messiah because He didn’t match their expectations. The Jewish people were waiting for a powerful ruler and a warrior king who would overthrow Roman oppression. Instead, Jesus arrived in humility. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a war horse. He taught about love, sacrifice, and service.

He simply wasn’t what many people expected.

And yet, when we step back and look at the bigger story of Scripture, we see that Jesus fulfilled many specific prophecies written hundreds of years before His birth like being born of a virgin, coming from Bethlehem, entering Jerusalem on a donkey, and even being betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.

Still, belief didn’t come easily. For many people in Jesus’ time, it wasn’t until after His resurrection that they were convinced.

If believing was difficult for those who saw Jesus in person, it’s understandable that it can feel difficult for us today as well. After all, we live in a time when people regularly make bold claims and predictions about the end of the world or even claims to be a messiah themselves only to later be proven wrong.

It’s reasonable to ask: How can I trust that Jesus is truly who He said He is?

Part of the challenge is simply that belief often asks us to trust something we cannot see.

In some ways, it’s similar to the wind. We can’t see the wind itself, but we see its effects—the leaves moving in the trees, the chill that makes us pull on a jacket, the waves forming on the lake. The evidence is there even though the wind itself remains invisible.

Doubt Isn’t Unusual

Even for believers, faith isn’t always simple or easy. Doubt actually appears throughout the Bible.

One of Jesus’ closest followers, Thomas, struggled to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw the scars with his own eyes. After appearing to him, Jesus said:

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

Another powerful moment appears in Mark 9, when a desperate father asks Jesus to heal his son. In the middle of his plea, the man says something incredibly honest:

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

That prayer captures the tension many people feel. They want to believe while still wrestling with doubt.

Maybe your struggle isn’t about a sick child, but about something else entirely: a broken relationship, unmet hopes, financial stress, or the suffering you see in the world around you.

Whatever the circumstance, those struggles can raise difficult questions about God.

What Do You Do When You Want to Believe?

If that’s where you find yourself, the Bible suggests something surprisingly simple: bring those questions to God.

Ask Him to meet you in the middle of them.

The remarkable thing about the story in Mark 9 is that Jesus still heals the father’s son, even in the middle of his struggling faith. God isn’t waiting for us to have flawless belief before He responds. He invites us to come honestly, doubts and all.

So if you find yourself saying,“I want to believe, but I just don’t,” you’re not alone.

Start with the prayer the father prayed:

“Help my unbelief.”

Faith often grows not by ignoring our doubts, but by exploring them.

And if you’re exploring those questions, we would love to walk with you.

For many people in North Texas—whether you live in Frisco, Little Elm, Prosper, or the surrounding communities—these questions about faith are more common than you might think. Life moves quickly here. Between work, family schedules, and the pressures of everyday life, it’s easy to push spiritual questions aside. But sooner or later, many people still find themselves asking the same things: Is there a God? Can I really believe in Him? And what does faith actually look like in real life?

At Onward, questions are welcome. Whether you reach out through our Connect page or simply visit on a Sunday, we hope to be a place where you can wrestle honestly with the things you’re wondering about because you’re welcome to wrestle here.