Faith is rarely a straight road, as anyone who’s practised any religion for a long time can tell you.
Challenges come in many forms, making you question everything you believe. But those same struggles can lead to a deeper, more resilient belief in and relationship with God. Sometimes, the hardest moments are the ones that strengthen you the most. When it comes to experiences that shake faith but ultimately make it stronger, these top the list.
1. Unanswered prayers leave you wondering if God is listening.
Praying for something deeply important and getting nothing but silence in return can feel discouraging. It makes you wonder if God hears you at all, or if your prayers even make a difference. When you pour your heart out and see no change, frustration builds, making faith feel like a one-sided conversation.
The thing is, faith isn’t about receiving everything you ask for instantly. Sometimes, unanswered prayers teach patience, trust, and resilience. When you stop seeing prayer as a transaction and more as an act of surrender, your faith shifts from expecting immediate results to believing in divine timing.
2. Losing someone you love makes you question everything.
Few things shake faith more than grief. Losing someone close can leave you feeling abandoned, angry, and completely disconnected from God. It’s hard to reconcile the idea of a loving God with the deep pain of loss, especially when it feels like your prayers for healing were ignored.
That being said, many find that grief deepens faith rather than destroys it. In brokenness, people search for meaning, comfort, and hope beyond what they can see. Trusting that there is more beyond this life turns pain into purpose, strengthening faith in a way that only suffering can.
3. Feeling like your life is going nowhere makes faith difficult.
Waiting for a breakthrough — whether in relationships, career, or personal growth — can make you feel forgotten. When doors don’t open and progress feels nonexistent, it’s easy to question whether God has a plan for you at all. Faith can feel pointless when every effort seems to lead nowhere.
But these moments force you to develop patience and perseverance. Learning to trust in God’s timing rather than your own builds resilience. Often, looking back, you realise delays weren’t denials; they were redirections toward something even better.
4. Watching bad people succeed makes you doubt fairness.
Seeing selfish, dishonest people thrive while good, honest people struggle is frustrating. It raises the question of why God allows injustice to go unchecked. When those who lie, cheat, or manipulate get ahead while other people suffer, it’s hard not to feel like faith in fairness is misplaced.
But true faith isn’t about expecting instant justice; it’s about believing that what’s unseen matters more than what’s seen. Choosing to focus on your own journey rather than someone else’s success helps shift the focus back to trust. In the end, character and integrity always outlast shortcuts.
5. Feeling distant from God makes you doubt your beliefs.
Source: Unsplash Faith isn’t always a constant feeling of connection. Some days, it feels strong; other times, God feels completely absent. These spiritual dry spells can make you wonder if you ever truly believed in the first place, or if you’re just going through the motions.
But faith isn’t about feelings; it’s about commitment. Learning to push through doubt and seek God even when He feels distant builds deeper trust. Often, it’s in those quiet, uncertain moments that faith becomes less about emotions and more about true devotion.
6. Seeing innocent people suffer makes faith complicated.
Source: Unsplash Tragedy, illness, and injustice are hard to understand, especially when they happen to good people. If God is loving, why does He allow so much pain? It’s one of the biggest questions that tests faith and challenges the idea of divine justice.
But struggling with this question isn’t a sign of weak faith; it’s a sign of deep engagement with it. Wrestling with suffering forces people to look beyond easy answers and dig deeper into their beliefs. Many find that faith isn’t about avoiding pain, but about trusting that even suffering has purpose.
7. Dealing with betrayal makes trust hard.
Source: Pexels Being hurt by someone you trusted — whether a friend, family member, or even a spiritual leader—can shake your entire foundation. It makes you question why God would allow such pain, especially when it comes from people who were supposed to be good.
But betrayal teaches that faith isn’t in people, it’s in God. Separating human failure from divine truth helps strengthen belief by shifting trust back to something unshakeable. Learning to rely on God rather than people helps faith become more personal and less dependent on external validation.
8. When prayers are answered differently than expected, it tests your faith.
Sometimes, you ask for one thing and get something completely different. It’s frustrating to feel like you were hoping for the wrong outcome or that God ignored what you truly wanted. Disappointment in how things unfold can make faith feel pointless.
But faith grows when you trust that unexpected answers aren’t rejections—they’re redirections. Often, what seemed like a letdown turns out to be exactly what was needed. Looking back, people realise that God’s answers are rarely what they expect, but often exactly what they need.
9. Seeing hypocrisy in religion makes you question everything.
Meeting people who claim to follow God but act in ways that contradict His teachings can be discouraging. It makes you wonder if faith is just a mask people wear rather than something real. Hypocrisy in religious spaces can make faith feel fake or forced.
But faith isn’t about people, it’s about God. Learning to separate belief from flawed individuals strengthens personal conviction. Real faith has nothing to do with following religious figures. It’s focused on seeking truth for yourself, even when other people fail to live up to it.
10. Feeling like your efforts go unnoticed makes faith hard.
Working hard, doing the right thing, and seeing no results can feel discouraging. It makes you wonder if God even sees your struggles, or if effort really matters.
But faith strengthens when you keep going anyway. Trusting that effort isn’t wasted, even when results aren’t immediate, helps build perseverance. Often, what seems unnoticed in the moment turns out to be the foundation for something greater.
11. Struggling with guilt makes it hard to believe in grace.
Sometimes, it’s not external challenges that test faith — it’s internal struggles. Carrying guilt over past mistakes can make it hard to accept God’s love and forgiveness.
But faith is about grace, not perfection. Learning to let go of guilt and trust in forgiveness deepens belief. Accepting that no one is beyond redemption makes faith more freeing rather than something heavy to carry.
12. Doubting God’s existence makes faith uncomfortable.
Even strong believers experience moments of doubt. Questioning whether God is real or if everything you believe is just wishful thinking can feel unsettling. But doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it’s part of it. Wrestling with deep questions often leads to stronger belief because faith that has been tested and reaffirmed is more resilient than blind acceptance.
13. Being let down by life’s unfairness challenges faith.
Source: Unsplash Sometimes, life just feels unfair. Bad things happen without explanation, and no matter how much you pray, things don’t seem to change. But faith has little to do with fairness; it’s more about trust. Believing that there’s purpose even in the midst of terrible times helps change focus from circumstances to something greater.
14. Going through a crisis makes faith feel fragile.
Health scares, financial struggles, and personal crises shake faith. When everything feels like it’s falling apart, trusting in a bigger plan becomes a massive challenge. But it’s often in crisis that faith is built the most. Learning to lean on God when things are out of control strengthens belief in a way that comfort never could.
15. Feeling like you don’t belong in a faith community makes belief nearly impossible.
Not everyone fits neatly into a religious group. Feeling out of place in church or questioning teachings can make faith feel isolating. You don’t need to fit into a group to have faith, though — it’s about personal belief. Finding authentic connections and seeking God on your own terms strengthens faith in a way that’s more genuine and meaningful.
