Caption: Overcoming one’s unbelief means bringing honest doubts to a faithful God.
Alt-text (main): Man with his head in his hands.
Photo by cottonbro studio
I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!— Mark 9:24
Why is trusting God so difficult for even sincere believers? Distrust blooms from many kinds of flowers. Yet, this question lingers in the hearts of many who love the Lord yet find themselves paralyzed by spiritual doubt.
In her memoir My Journey Through the Cross, Ashley D. Wille documents a profound struggle familiar to countless Christians: the tension between believing in the Lord and wrestling with a lack of faith.
Overcoming one’s unbelief is not about reaching a state of absolute certainty, but about being honest with our doubts before God, who actually welcomes them.
Photo by Gift Habeshaw 🇪🇹
The Bible presents a raw and relatable portrait of this battle in Mark 9, when a desperate father brings his tormented son to Jesus, who cried out the quote above. This man did not hide his struggle before Christ, and revealed it openly. His confession wasn’t a mark of a faith that was lacking, but the starting point for its strengthening.
This transparency shows that trusting God is rarely a single leap. Faith is a choice made daily, which is often made in the midst of fear and confusion.
This admission humbles us and opens the door for God to work in ways we never expected.
Recognizing Where Unbelief Takes Root
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it—Proverbs 4:23
To understand why trusting God is so difficult, we must first recognize where unbelief hides in our souls.
Ashley D. Wille discovered that unbelief was not just an intellectual problem but a functional distrust in God’s goodness. As humans, we perceive the world primarily through sight and, as such, to have “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1) can be quite difficult.
In My Journey Through the Cross, Ashley wrote about a crisis in her marriage, feeling profoundly disconnected from her husband. She describes a moment at a car dealership where a simple, platonic touch from a salesman made her collapse in tears.
That experience was a jolt of realization that she had been living with a great deficit of affection and connectedness.
She was functioning on empty, trying to ignore a deep cavern of unmet need that she could not seem to fill. This pain fueled an anger and bitterness that was wedged deep within her soul.
Like many of us, Ashley struggled with a root issue that she had not fully understood. She had unknowingly transferred childhood experiences of her father onto her heavenly Father, subconsciously fearing rejection and control, writing about how her earliest memory of her father felt harsh and controlling, and when she escaped his grip, he never came after her. In her tender young mind, she assumed abandonment, and it became a hidden pattern that colored her view of God.
This is a common source of spiritual doubt. When past hurts and whatnot begin to dominate our thoughts, fertile ground for unbelief to grow is cultivated.
Overcoming one’s unbelief starts with recognizing these hidden roots and the fears they generate, then bringing them into the light of God’s truth.
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Surrendering Control Through Daily Practice
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding—Proverbs 3:5
Ashley discovered this truth from Proverbs in her own painful and lengthy journey. When she finally reached a turning point of frustration and anger, she dared to be completely honest with God, venting her rage and admitting she felt abandoned by Him in her suffering.
Instead of striking her down as she had been led to fear, God met her with unexpected grace and tenderly asked if she felt better. This experience showed her that nothing could separate her from His love. No matter what she did or could do, God would always be waiting for her.
True honesty, even when it sounds like anger, paved the way for deeper intimacy than she had ever known.
This is the daily choice of letting go that Scripture commands. Overcoming one’s unbelief moves from head knowledge to practical, everyday surrender. It means handing over our worry, finances, relationships, and plans through prayer and intentional release.
Ashley describes practical ways she learned to do this, such as keeping Scripture reminders around her home and car to reorient her mind throughout the day. When fear of the future grips us, we voice our need and ask God to take control of every situation. This practical act of surrender slowly builds trust over time; each time we give God our burdens and rest in His promises, our unbelieving hearts are strengthened just a little more.
Faith is a process of continuous reliance on the One who has proven Himself faithful throughout history and in our own lives.
Finding Freedom in Imperfect Progress
[Being] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus—Philippians 1:6
The ultimate freedom in overcoming one’s unbelief comes when we embrace the grace to make mistakes without having to condemn ourselves.
Ashley finally understood that her pursuit of spiritual perfection was a trap that kept her enslaved. She had been trying hard to obey every rule to please God and found herself trapped in a cycle of frustration and defeat. The breakthrough only came when she realized that Christ had fulfilled the law perfectly on her behalf. Her own effort was never the source of her righteousness.
Jesus was, and He always would be.
This realization lifted an impossible burden from her shoulders.
This truth leads us to give ourselves grace when we are in moments of doubt and failure.
When we fall back into old patterns of fear, we should not run away from God. We should run to our Advocate, the One who intercedes for us, and say, like the desperate father, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”
My Journey Through the Cross reminds us that God does not require perfect faith from us. He only asks that we keep coming back to Him, bringing our doubts and our fears, and letting His love gradually cast out every shadow of unbelief.
Ashley D. Wille’s honest and powerful memoir, My Journey Through the Cross, will guide you through the struggles of faith into lasting freedom.
