For several weeks now, pretty much as long as we’ve been living this “shut-in” existence, I’ve mulled over writing this article. This week’s online sermon on the topic of Doubt offered me further motivation to make this post.

The sermon’s primary target audience was Christians who might be experiencing doubts about how God will see them through the current COVID-19 pandemic or questioning things in scripture they don’t understand. Those are not the doubts I have. Sure, at times I might question the validity of my faith, but those musings are typically short-lived. As I shared in my last article, I take comfort in knowing that God will provide for me based on how He has provided in the past. Furthermore, that comfort wouldn’t even be possible if I didn’t have firm faith in God’s existence and truthfulness of the Bible. No, my personal convictions are not where my doubts lie. They lie elsewhere.

Every week my church prays that, as a result of this crisis, people will come to a saving faith in Christ. This is where I have my doubts. When unbelievers see people getting sick and dying, when they are losing their jobs and their economic future is uncertain, when a full recovery is still a long ways off, what can we possibly say that will make them think, “Hey, God really does care for me and has all this under control!” I imagine their thoughts might be similar to those of one of my co-workers who, during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, stated, “We’re praying, but God’s not listening.”

Coming from a Reformed perspective, I know “it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:16). To put it plainly, my words alone will not lead anyone to faith, but it is God who softens a person’s heart and renews his mind, allowing him to understand and accept the gospel. I know people respond to God’s call because I have heard the testimonies from new and mature Christians alike. In fact, I really don’t need to look that far since my own conversion story is proof enough.

Still, the Arminian part of my brain keeps telling me that Christians need to say just the right words if are to convince anyone of our faith. Looking at it from non-Christian point of view, it’s easy to write off divine intervention. Success and financial security come through discipline and hard work. Sobriety is a personal decision accompanied by a strong willingness to change. Unexpected help in a time of need is either the actions of a charitable person or random events unfolding at just the right time. The end to the current COVID-19 crisis will be the result of social distancing and the development of cures and vaccines by researchers, doctors, and scientists. In the mind of the unbeliever, none of these offer hard evidence for an all-powerful and all-loving God.

Closely related to this is my doubt over the effectiveness of my personal witness. Will I say the right words? Can I answer the tough questions? I am not sure that anything I have shared has ever led anyone to a saving faith. Moreover, when faced with objections, it feels like failure to just “shake the dust from my feet” and move on. The end result of all this is that I tend to play it safe and simply remain quiet about my faith.

Which brings me back to the question I posed in the title of this article. How does a crisis lead a person to Christ? I don’t have a good answer for this. As I mentioned before, it obviously happens. I just wish I had the faith to expect it to happen instead of being surprised when it does. This is where I ask you, if you are a Christian, to help me work through this. What has your experience been? Has a crisis brought you or someone you know to a saving faith? If so, how and why? Or do you have the same doubts as I do? Please take the time to share in the comments below. I am interested in hearing your stories, and I’m sure others are too.