Navigating a Crisis of Faith
A crisis of faith can be one of the most disorienting and deeply personal experiences a person faces. Questions about belief, doubt, identity, and truth can surface in unexpected ways, often shaking foundations that once felt certain. For some, this season may include deconstruction—reexamining long-held beliefs and traditions—and for others, it may feel like a “dark night of the soul,” where God seems distant or silent. These moments can bring confusion, grief, and even fear, as you wrestle with what you believe and where you belong.
In this Navigating a Crisis of Faith Pathway, you’ll hear honest stories, thoughtful reflections, and gentle guidance from those who have walked through seasons of doubt and uncertainty. This pathway creates space to explore difficult questions, process faith shifts, and rediscover meaning in the midst of struggle. While the journey may feel unsettling, this curated pathway is designed to remind you that questioning is not the end of faith—it can often be the beginning of an even deeper, more authentic spiritual journey.
Podcast Episodes:
How do we begin to understand the landscape of our soul in light of our spiritual journey? What does it look like to live a more integrated life—one that honors the connection between mind, body, and spirit?
For pastors and authors Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw, these questions became deeply personal as they explored their own spiritual formation and the hidden forces that shape the way we relate to God, ourselves, and others. Drawing from the science of attachment and its profound spiritual implications, they have examined how our earliest experiences of connection can influence our understanding of God, our relationships, and the way we navigate the world. In their book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, they offer a compelling framework for cultivating deeper intimacy with God and greater wholeness in our lives.
In this conversation, Davey, Cyd, and Geoff explore why faith and healing can sometimes feel disconnected, how attachment theory provides a powerful lens for understanding our spiritual lives, and what it looks like to navigate the terrain of our souls with compassion, honesty, and grace.
If you've ever wondered how your past experiences continue to shape your relationships, your faith, or the way you see yourself and God, this episode offers both insight and hope. No matter what terrain you've traveled, healing and transformation remain possible through Christ, deeper self-awareness, and the secure connection we were created to experience.
WARNING: This episode contains conversations about suicide and suicide ideation and may not be suitable for all listeners/viewers.
How do you experience Jesus fully after coming to Christ? How can you continue to experience Him when life is full of pain and difficulties?
Naeem Fazal has an incredibly powerful testimony of how he first encountered Christ. Born into a Muslim family, Naeem experienced a supernatural experience as a young adult that forever changed the trajectory of his life. The cost was significant as he grew to know Jesus more intimately—eventually becoming a pastor—and faced being disowned by his loved ones. Later, he walked through his father’s attempted suicide and the sudden loss of his brother-in-law, moments that ultimately allowed him to show his family how they, too, could encounter Jesus in a personal and transformative way. In his book, Tomorrow Needs You: Seeing Beauty When You Feel Hopeless, he explores how fear can be our greatest enemy and how life with Jesus leads us into a new way of living—not from fear, but from love.
In this episode, Davey and Naeem talk about the supernatural and spiritual warfare, the differences between the Western and Eastern Christian experience, and how to navigate the estrangement that can arise when you choose to follow Christ.
If you’ve ever longed for a deeper connection with Jesus in the midst of hardship, this conversation will encourage you that—even in your wrestlings—you can find the intimacy with Him that your heart desires.
How do you engage with the Word of God when your world is falling apart? What does Scripture offer us in our deepest pain?
Pastor and author David Platt has built his life and ministry on the foundation of God’s Word—through his own personal struggles, challenges, and questions. As an adoptive father, David has witnessed firsthand the power of Scripture in guiding him as he shepherds the hearts of his children through trauma and hurt. As a pastor, he’s experienced the necessity of coming to the Bible with a heart longing for deeper intimacy with Jesus. And as a follower of Christ, he knows it is God’s Word that continually draws him into a fuller understanding of who God is. Out of this passion, David wrote How to Read the Bible: A Simple Guide to Deeper Intimacy with God, to help others engage Scripture in meaningful and transformative ways.
In this episode, Davey talks with David about the call to adoption and what it looks like to lovingly shepherd the hearts of hurting children, why Scripture is indispensable in the life of every believer, and how to respond when God feels absent in seasons of pain.
If you’ve ever wondered why Scripture matters—especially when you’re walking through suffering—this conversation will help you see how foundational God’s Word can be in revealing who He is and sustaining you in your most difficult moments.
How do you find hope when life unexpectedly thrusts you into the valley of loss? How do you navigate the rugged terrain of pain?
For Nothing is Wasted’s Podcast Producer and Content Director, Catherine Fitzgerald, the heartbreak and trauma of losing her brother, Zac, plunged her into a valley unlike anything she had ever experienced. In the aftermath came secondary losses of community and identity and a spiritual desolation that felt like a dark night of the soul. She found herself wondering how she would ever find her way back to faith.
And yet, God met her there—through the book of Psalms and through the stories of others, like Davey Blackburn—offering a glimmer of light to guide her toward hope.
Now, in Nothing is Wasted’s latest project, Catherine has gathered and edited a collection of stories from past podcast guests, Nothing is Wasted Coaches, and team members. Each story weaves together personal journeys through pain, loss, and trauma with reflections on the Psalms, forming a powerful new devotional—Hope in the Valley: 42 Days of Healing Through the Psalms After Loss, Grief, and Tragedy.
In this episode, Davey and Catherine look back on their own stories and their shared journey through Nothing is Wasted. Together, they explore how loss reshapes every part of our lives, the often messy wrestle for hope, and why stories are such a vital part of nurturing faith in the valley of pain.
If you’ve ever believed that hope simply means “looking on the bright side,” this conversation will remind you that true hope is far more complex—gritty, raw, and worth fighting for. And often, it’s the stories of others that become our most powerful weapon in that fight.
How do we support those in pain when we ourselves don’t have all the answers? How can we be present when we’re uncomfortable with the silence, the sorrow, and the questions that come with loss and tragedy?
Pastor Jerry McFarland felt a twinge uncertainty the day he received a phone call asking him to visit a stranger at a local children’s hospital. Unsure of what he could say or offer, he still chose to show up—to step into someone else’s pain as an act of obedience to “mourn with those who mourn.” That’s when he met Amy Sylvestre, a mother clinging to hope as her infant son, Hudson, fought for his life.
Healing didn’t come in the way Amy had hoped. But through Jerry’s quiet presence—a man she had never met before that hospital stay—Amy encountered the grace of God in the darkest chapter of her story. It was his willingness to sit with her in grief, to make space for her questions, her anger, and her heartbreak, that allowed her to begin to find comfort and hope again.
In this tender episode, guest host Amy Sylvestre sits down with Jerry to reflect on that experience and explore what it means to walk with others through pain, how to entrust God with what is most precious, and why it's not only okay—but necessary—to let people be honest in their sorrow.
Whether you're a leader or simply someone who knows a person in pain, this conversation will remind you: you don’t need to have the right words or the perfect response. Your presence, your listening ear, and your willingness to show up may be exactly what someone needs in the hardest part of their story.
What do we do with the doubts, disillusionments, and dead ends that can come in our faith journey? How do we help someone who has questions in their walk with Jesus?
Authors Catherine McNiel and Jason Hague each had a unique experience when it came to wrestling with doubt and disillusionment in their faith. They knew the confusion and pain that can come when you have questions and are struggling to find the answers in safe places within the Christian community. It was out of their own personal experiences that they together wrote the book, Mid-Faith Crisis: Finding a Path Through Doubt, Disillusionment, and Dead Ends, to give others a roadmap through the twists and turns of walking out a true faith in Christ.
In this helpful conversation, Aubrey sits with Catherine and Jason to talk about the beauty that can be found after a crisis in our faith, how we can better prepare children and believers for the realities that may come in life, and the way the church can better step into conversations and provide a refuge for those wrestling in their faith.
If you're in a season of doubting or disillusionment and it feels like you have reached a dead end, this episode will be a reminder that no matter how big the questions are, God is strong enough to withstand them and you are not alone.
What do you do when you find yourself in a crisis of faith? How can you help someone walking through the questions and doubts they are experiencing?
Ian Harber came to a critical junction in his own faith after experiencing loss after loss. Doubts began to rise and yet, he didn't have a safe space to process the questions that can so often come in our journey in knowing and understanding God. But eventually, Ian found himself on the other side of that process and began to see the need for helping others find the space to process their own questions and doubts. In his latest book, “Walking Through Deconstruction: How to Be a Companion in a Crisis of Faith”, he shares his own story of deconstruction and reconstruction and encourages others to be a companion to those who are experiencing a crisis in faith.
In this episode, Davey and Ian discuss what deconstruction is, what can happen to a person who is experiencing a crisis in their faith, and how to walk alongside those who are questioning and doubting faith as they once knew it.
Whether you are struggling with questions and doubts in your own journey with Jesus or you know someone who is, this conversation will encourage patience and compassion through the ups and downs of walking with God.
What happens to our relationship with God in the midst of suffering? How do we stay connected to Jesus when we are walking through pain?
Author John Eldredge has been guiding people through practices that can help keep us in union with Christ, especially when the pain of life threatens to erode our connection. He has seen the ways in which the enemy will attempt to break our spirit and discourage us and how Christ longs to bring hope and healing to our souls. He has taken these lessons from his own life, throughout his counseling career and ministry, and what he sees now as a spiritual father to many and has written a book called Experience Jesus. Really: Finding Refuge, Strength, and Wonder through Everyday Encounters with God. In it, he shares habits and spiritual practices that will offer readers the refuge of experiencing deep, lasting, real communion with Jesus.
In this insightful episode, Davey and John talk about how we can begin to let go the weight of our cares and entrust them to God, the ways in which our agreements with the lies of the enemy can prolong our suffering, and why we need daily reminders of truth as we heal.
If you struggle to stay connected to Jesus in times of pain and heartache, this conversation will teach you ways that you can reconnect with the one who wants to bring you hope and healing.
How do we get out of the negative patterns in our marriage? What impact does learning to regulate our own emotions have on our relationships?
For authors Ron and Nan Deal, it wasn't until they learned to self-regulate their own emotions after the built up pain from their stories and the loss of their child that they began to find healing in the destructive cycles in their marriage. When their relationship had reached a critical point, they found hope and help in the work of Dr. Terry and Sharon Hargrave, whose transformational Restoration Therapy gave Ron and Nan a path forward together in healing. In their new book, The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself, Ron and Nan, along with the Hargraves, share both Biblical principles and neuroscience that will help create a more loving, faithful marriage for readers.
In this honest and raw conversation, Davey sits down with Ron and Nan to talk about the impact family of origin has in our relationships, why emotional regulation is so important, and how learning to renew your mind can help your brain heal from unhealthy patterns of thinking and relating with your spouse.
No matter what state your marriage is in currently, this episode will show you how learning about your own unhelpful ways of coping can bring healing, hope, and flourishing to your most important relationship-your marriage.
How can spiritual practices help us in the valley of our heartache and suffering? Why is prayer so pivotal in our pain?
For years, pastor of Bridgetown Church and author Tyler Staton taught others how to slow down and engage in the spiritual practices that can help people connect to God and hear His voice more clearly. He had no idea how much the very lessons he shared would be so important in his own journey through cancer. Reading Scripture, prayer and conversing with God took on a whole new level of meaning and intimacy as he walked through a difficult diagnosis and an aggressive treatment plan that physically and emotionally depleted him. But through it, he found a deeper connection with the shepherd of his soul.
In this tender conversation, Davey sits with Tyler to discuss why we need to engage in spiritual practices especially in hard times, what the mystery of the spiritual wilderness can reveal, and how God will use the interruptions of our suffering to show us what we cannot see in the ordinary moments of our life.
If you are walking through the wilderness and wondering how to find the direction you need, this episode will help you understand that while spiritual practices may not give us all the answers we long for, they will guide us into a deeper connection with the one who knows them.
What do you do when the people of God fail and you find yourself questioning God because of it? How do you deconstruct your misunderstandings about God, His people and life without deconstructing your faith altogether?
For author, Bible teacher, and medical doctor Lina AbuJamra healing from the hurt she experienced from her church led her on an unexpected journey in her faith. What started as a deep disappointment in people led her to feeling let down by God. It took a lot of time and realizations that what she had come to believe about God and how He worked wasn't based on His truth and that perhaps deconstructing the falsehoods and misunderstandings about God, wasn't a bad thing. However, as things were being taken apart in her understanding of who God was, she also needed to reconstruct what was true so that her faith would strengthen rather than fade away. It wasn't a quick process, but a holy one and one that she wrote about in her book, Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction.
In this helpful conversation, Aubrey and Lina talk about why deconstruction is often rooted in our disappointments, ways in which we can heal from Church hurt, and how sometimes our doubts, questions and hurt can lead us into a deeper faith.
If you or someone you know has walked through being hurt by the Church and has found themselves unraveling, this episode will encourage you that perhaps through your hurt, God is wanting to rebuild in you a stronger, more resilient faith and life in Him.
How do we live a more connected life with Jesus when this world offers so many distractions? What would it look like for individuals to experience personal revival in their own faith that could spark revival in other's lives as well?
For author, podcaster and Bible teacher Lisa Whittle, it was her own journey towards seeking more of God that led her to write about it. As a woman in ministry, Lisa has seen and faced many challenges, but through it all, she was able to find God more and more. By asking God for her own personal revival, Lisa began to see all the ways the enemy of her soul attempts to keep her from it. From people pleasing and anxiety to social media and the celebrity culture that has infiltrated the Christian spaces she has been in, Lisa knows that there are many things that can derail her from living out of a whole hearted devotion to God. It is why she decided to update and re-release her book, I Want God: How to Love Him with Your Whole Heart and Revive Your Soul. As God continued to draw her own heart into personal revival, she realized the message she wrote years ago had even more relevance for our current culture.
In this episode, Aubrey and Lisa talk about the challenges many women face in ministry and how to overcome them, what personal revival looks like in both seasons of normalcy and seasons of pain, and how the fear of man can keep us from the freedom God so longs to give us.
If you've ever desired to experience more of God in your own heart and life but don't know how, this conversation will teach you the simplicity of loving Him and reviving your soul in the process.
What do we do when our faith feels like the darkness of night? How do we find our way through when God is hard to see or feel?
Author and speaker Dr. Alicia Britt Chole was never afraid of asking questions. In fact, it was her own father's willingness to hear and respond to the many curiosities in her spirit that gave her a picture for God's willingness to listen to and speak to all the questions, the fears, and the doubts in life. Through her personal study of scripture, she began to take notice of the idea of night, of a darkness or obscurity, that can mark our journeys with Jesus.
In an effort to normalize this very valuable and healthy part of our spiritual growth, Dr. Chole wrote The Night is Normal: A Guide Through Spiritual Pain, to help readers identify what can cause our spiritual pain and how to navigate through those seasons of disillusionment and seasons where we are losing hope. Through scriptural evidence and personal experience, Dr. Chole proves that while painful, our disillusionment and those night seasons can become our greatest gifts in our journey towards faith and hope.
In this profound conversation, Aubrey and Dr. Chole talk about how God pursues us when we are far from Him, the causes of our spiritual pain, and why normalizing our difficult seasons can help us find a way through them.
If you've ever found yourself with more questions than answers when it comes to your faith, this episode will prove that God can handle all your questions, all your doubts, and all your disillusionment and that the night you may be experiencing will not last forever.
How do you keep choosing to truly live after losing one of the closest people in your life? What does it look like to show up when you're feeling the depths of grief?
For our Nothing is Wasted podcast co-host, author, pastor and speaker, Aubrey Sampson, learning how to allow life to come in again through the cracks of her pain after losing her best friend, Jenn, was difficult. Finding her way through the grief without having the person she could always process pain with felt impossible. And yet, through it all, Aubrey began to see how even in one of her greatest losses, there were moments where she could keep death from winning by choosing to find joy and life in what was in front of her. It was there that she could begin to see God's redemption in her heartache and fight back against darkness.
In this vulnerable conversation, Davey sits down with Aubrey to discuss how redemption often doesn't look like we think it will, how to begin to move forward after losing someone you love, and what to do when God's presence feels more like absence in your pain.
If you've ever experienced the loss of a best friend or have wondered how to even begin to live again in grief, this episode will inspire you to keep choosing to show up fully in the one, precious life you've been given.
How do we navigate those questions we have in the middle of our struggles? How can we hold onto our faith when doubt seems to want to unravel what we know to be true?
For author and podcaster Laura Wifler, walking through a season of doubt in the middle of life's challenges wasn't something she anticipated. As someone who spent much of her time encouraging other women on her well-known podcast and through her book by the same name, Risen Motherhood, to cling to Jesus in their lives, she never imagined to find herself wrestling with uncertainty in her own faith. And yet through that season and through parenting a child with special needs, Laura found God reveal Himself to her more and more. Learning to cling to her faith when it felt impossible was a lesson that continues to carry her through the lingering questions and challenges she is experiencing. She also found that her vulnerability in sharing where she was in her journey with Jesus gave others permission to do the same.
In this episode, Eric talks with Laura about what the gospel offers in parenting a child with special needs, how to find hope in our pain, and what it looks like to cling to faith in our doubts.
If you or someone you know have found themselves in a season where there seems to be more questions than answers, this conversation is an invitation to ask God what is on your mind and know that there is no question or struggle with doubt that can keep you from His love.
How do we practice the way of Jesus when our lives are riddled with pain and suffering? What does it look like to grow spiritually when we are hurting?
Author and Bible teacher John Mark Comer has been leading others towards what he calls an apprenticeship with Jesus, teaching how we can learn the intended rhythms and practices God wants us to engage in by simply looking to how Jesus walked and talked in this world. We are all being spiritually formed by something, he argues, and if we want it to be a formation in the likeness of Christ then we need to learn to sit with Him, become like Him and do the things Jesus did. This is the very message of his latest book, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like him, Do as he did, which can help Christians learn the spiritual disciplines that Jesus taught and modeled for all believers.
In this deeply insightful conversation, Davey and Aubrey chat with John Mark about what spiritual formation is, what types of spiritual disciplines we should be doing in our seasons of pain and suffering, and the important impact of community when we are hurting. They go on to talk about the dark night of the soul, a spiritual experience often described by theologians but rarely discussed in churches, in which God removes the felt sense of his presence while remaining as near as He ever was. It can be one of the most disorienting experiences for those who encounter it and yet as John Mark shares, there is a richness offered in the spiritual life of the one who walks through it.
If you've been struggling to do basic spiritual disciplines in your suffering or if you've been wrestling with a deep sense of God's absence in your life, this episode is a gentle reminder that God is with you when you are hurting and that He invites you into rest and to simply be when you don't have the strength to do.
What do we do when our suffering makes us feel angry at God? How do we continue to hold on to our relationship with the Lord when we are struggling with difficulties and trials in our lives?
For author, musician and spiritual director, Strahan Coleman, his battle with chronic illness left him depleted physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially. And while it felt as though so much was being stripped away in his life, he also began to experience an expansion when it came to his relationship with God. It didn't come easy though, but only through the painstaking honesty and lament in his cries to the Lord for help and healing. Through it, Strahan learned the power of being with God rather than simply working for Him. It was that journey that led him to write, Beholding: Deepening our Experience in God, in which Strahan encourages believers to see prayer as a beautiful invitation of not just seeking, but becoming.
In this deep conversation, Eric sits with Strahan to discuss the role of prayer in our suffering as well as our daily lives, what to do with anger towards God, and what it looks like to behold God in our suffering.
If suffering has ever left you wondering if God even cares, this episode will remind you that the Lord wants you to come to Him with all of your pain and emotions and to learn to simply behold Him in the process.
What happens when the life you've built turns to dust? For Steph Teague, it began with just a few short sentences: "I don't think I believe in God anymore and I want a divorce".
Hearing those words from her high school sweetheart, Chris, was devastating and yet, she slowly began to rebuild her life after such a deep hurt. Chris was on a seemingly separate journey through addiction, doubts, and deconstruction.
In time, the Lord got a hold of Chris' heart and he experienced true life transformation, only to realize the mistake he had made in leaving his wife. Through God's kindness, the two would later reconcile, remarry and go on to start a band called Out of the Dust, where they would write songs of the loss and redemption in their story.
Join Davey, Chris, and Steph as they talk about how to trust God when those we love wrestle with doubts and deconstruction, healing a marriage after brokenness, and the importance of community in whatever pain we face.
This episode is an encouragement for anyone who feels like life's circumstances are beyond repair and who longs for redemption out of the dust.
What do you do when you realize the things you've been taught don't quite match up with God's Word? How do you navigate when what you believed to be true of the body of Christ doesn't hold up when you need care and protection?
For Carlie Tice Cleveland, experiencing an abusive relationship was painful enough yet more hurt was heaped upon her when the response of Christian leaders was shaming and blaming. It was through that difficult season that Carlie began to rightfully question some of the lessons she had learned through the years about purity.
Her questions led her to untangle some prescriptive religious rules that ignored the heart of God's purpose in pursuing purity. In this episode, Carlie and Davey talk about the heart of the matter when it comes to sexual ethics, warning signs in abusive relationships and the importance of deconstructing ideas that don't align with scripture.
This conversation is so important for those who know or love young people who may be wrestling with what purity truly means.
Masterclasses:
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Some of our greatest pain can come from those we expected to care for and shepherd our souls through suffering. It can be hard to separate who God is from the hurt His people have caused.
How do you move through the pain or abuse that you suffered at the hands of those within your church?
Natalie Runion knows what it is like to feel deeply wounded and disappointed by those who profess Christ. She knows the fallout that can happen when a community turns its back on you and your pain. And yet, as she allowed God to heal her pain, she created a space for others disillusioned and hurt from church or ministry leaders, to hold on to hope and to stay. Her Raised to Stay Community on Instagram includes almost 200,000 followers that walk with her as she contends for healthy and whole churches and ministries.
In this masterclass, Natalie shares what to do When People Fail: Healing from Church Hurt and will help you:
Find ways to heal from church hurt you’ve experienced
Identify the counterfeit connections that can lead to wounding
Begin to work through the process of forgiveness
If you are struggling to reconcile the pain caused by God’s people to who God is in your pain, this masterclass will help you sort it out and find a way forward in healing when people fail you.
Resources
Website: https://natalierunion.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/raisedtostay
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/Raisedtostay
Book: The House That Jesus Built: Leading Our Churches Back to God’s Original Blueprint
Book: Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away
Nothing is Wasted Episode 287 - Raised To Stay After Church Hurt With Natalie Runion https://www.nothingiswasted.com/podcast1/episode-287
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How can speaking to God in a new way invite us into a deeper way of seeing and hearing from Him? What role can poetry play in helping us communicate with our Creator?
For pastor and author Tyler Staton, the words penned on a page during his cancer journey were never intended for anyone but himself and the Lord. Yet he discovered that the way he communed with God through scribbles in a tattered notebook offered a powerful invitation for all of us—to notice God's presence in both the ordinary moments and the difficult circumstances of our lives. Paired with Scripture, Tyler's book, After Amen: 50 Days of Poetry and Prayer, explores the beautiful intersection of poetry and prayer, offering a meaningful way to examine our lives while paying closer attention to God's presence within them.
In this episode, Davey and Tyler discuss how we can better recognize God in the everyday, why it is so important to grieve our losses, and the role spiritual practices play in carrying us into the presence of God amid our pain.
If you've ever struggled to find the words to speak to God, this conversation offers an invitation into the creative and poetic language that can help you feel seen, understood, and accompanied in your suffering.