Jon Petts

Category: Faith & Work

  • Navigating Doubt

    Navigating Doubt

    I have a confession to make.

    During my formal training for the ministry, I went through a profound season where I genuinely doubted the very existence of God. I was actively preparing for a lifetime of Christian service, studying theology, and yet internally wrestling with the terrifying thought that the God I was preparing to serve might not even be there – navigating doubt was not on my agenda!

    Questioning God’s existence felt like a bit of a taboo to say the least. However, I have since realised I was far from alone in that wilderness.

    (This is the third instalment of The Devil’s Playbook. If you have not yet read the other posts , you can find part 1 here.)

    Why your doubt might just be a vital sign of spiritual health

    Openly acknowledging doubt is actually a vital sign of spiritual health, provided we allow it to process itself into faith. It is way better than bottling it up, pasting on a fake smile, and presenting a false self to the world.

    As my dad often preached, if there were no room for doubt, there would be no need for faith.

    Faith and doubt are frequently two sides of the same coin. Doubt is not always a grand, intellectual crisis concerning God’s existence. Often, it is much quieter.

    It is wondering if God will actually come through for you in a specific crisis. We find ourselves doubting his goodness, his faithfulness, or his active presence in our daily lives.

    These moments of friction are frequently used by God to strengthen our resolve, build our character, and teach us some lessons about dependence. 

    Sometimes, it feels as though God is playing hide-and-seek simply to get us off our backsides and compel us to seek his face with genuine urgency.

    When doubt becomes a weapon

    There is a critical tipping point where doubt ceases to be a spiritual workout and becomes a weapon formed against us. 

    A 2023 study by Barna titled ‘Doubt and Faith’ revealed that exactly half of all adults with a Christian background experience a period of prolonged doubt.

    The enemy uses this extended time in the wilderness not merely to provoke philosophical questions, but to systematically separate us from our spiritual foundations. 

    This modern iteration of doubt is rarely just an intellectual exercise. It is deeply relational and institutional.

    The same Barna research highlights that for those who eventually distance themselves from their faith communities, the primary driver is the perceived hypocrisy of religious people, a factor cited by 42 percent of respondents. 

    When past institutional hurts are weaponised in our minds, the result is a quiet exit that isolates us from our communities and ultimately silences our prayer lives.

    In the Devil’s playbook, the goal of doubt is never to make you a critical thinker. The goal is to make you a deserter.

    Doubting God’s existence

    Questioning whether God is actually real rarely begins with a dramatic spiritual crisis or a sudden theological u-turn. Instead, it manifests as a gradual erosion of our worldview, heavily influenced by the environments in which we operate.

    Secularism

    When our primary daily inputs, from business strategies to social media feeds, are entirely secular, the concept of a supernatural God can quickly begin to feel like a childish myth. This gravity of secular thinking pulls constantly at our perspective.

    Suffering

    This intellectual friction is compounded by the reality of suffering. Facing profound loss, injustice, or even the sudden collapse of a life’s work creates severe logical dissonance. When we encounter deep pain in our own lives, the natural human response is to ask how a good and powerful God could possibly allow it to happen.

    Scientism

    Add to this the modern overemphasis on scientism. This is the assumption that if something cannot be quantified in a spreadsheet or proven in a laboratory, it simply does not exist. Under this weight, the foundation of faith can easily begin to crack.

    Spinning

    Ultimately, this intellectual brand of doubt leaves us with a moral compass that appears fixed but is actually spinning freely. Without an eternal framework to anchor us, our decision-making becomes entirely bound to short-term consequences. This mindset is a fast track to personal hopelessness.

    A vintage brass compass resting on modern business documents on an office desk.

    Doubting God’s character

    The second play the enemy runs is far more intimate than intellectual scepticism. It is an attack on God’s character, a phenomenon we might call the Thomas complex.

    The Thomas complex

    We often label the biblical disciple as ‘Doubting Thomas’, but that is perhaps a bit unfair. Thomas was not a cynical, modern atheist, but a deeply wounded follower. He had invested three years of his life into following Jesus, only to watch his hope publicly die on a Roman cross.

    When the other disciples excitedly claimed Jesus was alive, Thomas did not necessarily doubt the theological possibility of a resurrection. More likely, he was simply too heartbroken and exhausted to risk believing it had actually happened. His demand to see the physical nail marks was not a scientific inquiry, but a psychological defence mechanism against further devastating disappointment (John 20:25).

    I know you see this too.

    Consider the dedicated person who has poured years of prayer and integrity into a project, only to watch it collapse unexpectedly. Think of the individual who prayed earnestly for a family member’s healing, only to be met with a tragic outcome.

    In these dark moments, the enemy rarely tries to convince us that God is a myth. Instead, he whispers that God is indifferent, distant, or perhaps simply not as good as we previously thought.

    Disillusionment and neglected disciplines

    This deeply relational doubt usually stems from a disillusionment with some unwritten internal script, as we all carry a mental narrative of how a faithful, blessed life ought to play out. It is a subtle contract we create. We tell ourselves that if we work hard and pray often, God will ensure our success and safety.

    When God does not follow our script, when we face unexpected delay or crushing despondency, we are tempted to question his character. We can subtly begin to doubt his love and his power.

    This drift is accelerated when we neglect our spiritual disciplines. When our prayer life slips and we stop immersing ourselves in scripture, we lose the familiar sound of God’s voice. It is exactly like losing touch with an old friend, where the longer you go without speaking, the easier it is to misinterpret their silence.

    In that quiet void, the enemy’s whisper suddenly sounds much louder and far more authoritative. As a result, we stop praying for breakthroughs and start praying merely for survival. 

    The good news is that, like with a true friend, you can be away for ages and easily pick up where you left off!

    Doubting your own identity

    In the Devil’s Playbook, perhaps the most subtle play in the chapter on doubt is the attack on your identity. The enemy does not always need to convince you that God is unapproachable. He only needs to convince you that you are unqualified to approach Him.

    The trap of self-focus

    In many ways it is entirely healthy to doubt our own flesh and to have zero confidence in our human strength. But for the believer, the enemy distorts this healthy humility into a toxic lie about our standing in Christ.

    Many of us end up circling a drain of self-doubt, constantly seeking reassurance of our own spiritual worth or seeking validation from others. We tell ourselves that we would love to experience more of God, but we simply do not cut it spiritually. We allow the shadow of our past mistakes to dictate our present reality, assuming that if we keep remembering our sins, God must be remembering them too.

    When we focus obsessively on our own weakness rather than Christ’s strength, our prayers devolve into whimsical wishing. The devil effectively waters down our power by making us the centre of the conversation. 

    If your primary focus is on how flawed you are, you are fundamentally failing to focus on how good he is.

    The antidote is revelation

    The answer to this crippling self-doubt is not an injection of modern self-confidence or a better self-image, but revelation. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul prays for something highly specific for the early church. 

    He does not pray for their difficult circumstances to change.

    Instead, he prays that,

    the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you 

    (Ephesians 1:18, NIVUK)

    Self-doubt becomes completely irrelevant when you realise your standing is based on His gracious invitation, not your flawless application. Paul also uses a string of superlatives to describe the incomparably great power available to those who believe.

    It is the exact same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him far above every rule, authority, and dominion. 

    When you finally see Jesus for who He is, seated in ultimate authority, your self-doubt becomes an absurdity. You are no longer operating on your own fragile credentials, you are operating on his. After all, you are seated with him (Ephesians 2:6)!

    Expecting a Return on Prayer

    The writer of Hebrews tells us that anyone who comes to God must believe two fundamental things. The author states that

    anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

    Hebrews 11:6 NIVUK

    Sincere prayer always expects a result.

    A farmer is not content with merely planting seeds, but waits to reap a harvest. Similarly, a marksman observes carefully to see whether his bullet hit the target, and a physician actively examines the patient to measure the effect of the medicine.

    Yet, in our spiritual lives, doubt often conditions us to adopt a ‘fire and forget’ mentality. We pray out of obligation, walking away before the words have even left our lips. If we truly believed he was a rewarder, we would stay at the door, knocking persistently until it opened.

    Help my unbelief

    Nowhere is the messy, beautiful reality of navigating doubt captured more perfectly than in the Gospel of Mark. In chapter nine, we find a chaotic scene where a desperate father has brought his deeply afflicted son to Jesus’ disciples (Mark 9:14-29). The disciples have tried and failed entirely.

    The boy is suffering, the religious leaders are arguing, and the father is watching his last shred of hope evaporate. When Jesus arrives, the exhausted father approaches Him. His opening plea is not a declaration of unwavering, triumphant faith, but a statement saturated in the trauma of repeated disappointment.

    He looks at Jesus and pleads, 

    But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us

    Mark 9:22 NIVUK

    Jesus replies, throwing the caveat right back at him. 

    ‘”If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes”

    Mark 9:23, NIVUK

    I am so glad the father does’nt try to muster up a false sense of spiritual bravado to impress the Rabbi. Instead leans into radical, vulnerable honesty. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, 

    I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

    Mark 9:24 NIVUK

    Is this perhaps one of the most profound prayers recorded in scripture?

    The father acknowledges the genuine belief in his heart, while simultaneously confessing the crushing weight of his doubt. 

    He admits that his faith is fractured, battered by the reality of his son’s suffering, and the recent failure of the disciples.

    This story is a lifeline

    Jesus does not scold the man for his theological struggle or demand that he go away, purify his thoughts, and return with a perfectly unblemished mindset. 

    Jesus accepts the fragile fragment of faith the man offers and steps into the gap to provide the rest. He turns and performs the miracle, healing the boy completely.

    This narrative is a lifeline for any of us navigating a season of uncertainty, proving God is not intimidated by your “What ifs.” He is not repelled by faith that has been bruised by the realities of life, business, or institutional failure. He simply asks for honesty.

    If you find doubt hovering in the background today or even facing you head on, be completely honest about it. Speak your “help my unbelief” out loud and do not let your questions silently harden into a wedge that separates you from your calling. 

    Let us get before God this week, ask him to enlighten the eyes of our hearts, and fully expect the power of the resurrection to move precisely within our messy, ordinary lives.

    Next week, we look at the third “D” in the Devil’s Playbook: Despondency. We will explore the unique dangers of the “long wait” and discover practical ways to recover your spirit when the breakthrough seems delayed.

    Who is Jon Petts?

  • When Your Lateral Career Move is Actually a Divine Setup

    When Your Lateral Career Move is Actually a Divine Setup

    The Move

    You are staring out of the window on the morning commute, looking at your schedule for the day, and wondering if any of it actually matters in the grand scheme of things.

    In Christian circles, we often talk about “calling” as if it is a booming voice directing us to a dramatic, sacrificial life. Meanwhile, in the real world, most of our major life decisions feel decidedly unspiritual.

    • We relocate to secure a place in a better school catchment area.
    • We take a lateral career move because the pension scheme is better.
    • We network with people we do not entirely agree with because it is commercially strategic. (*cringe*)

    At the end of 2023, I found myself in a similar place. I had handed in my notice, sensing a profound prompting that it was the right time to leave my current employment. I had absolutely no idea what was coming next. It was simply a step of faith for both my wife and me, letting peace, and the counsel of those around us, be our guide.

    With just three weeks to go before my final day, a text message arrived. It was an invitation to cover for an absent teacher. The catch was that it meant leaving the beautiful South Coast of Devon UK and relocating to the north of England (also beautiful in its own way!).

    In many ways, while I always look to see God’s hand at work, it felt like a purely practical, logistical career decision. Logistically it wasn’t an amazing choice as I had to stay in our my in-laws’ spare room for what turned out to be 18 months. Love ’em to bits but not an ideal situation for any of us!

    But the point is, that temporary cover was a catalyst for a life upheaval.

    It is easy to look at our pragmatic, spreadsheets-and-mortgages lives and worry that we have somehow sidestepped the grand adventure God had planned for us.

    A closer look at one of the more obscure characters of the Old Testament suggests something entirely different:

    Often, your most calculated, practical logistics are exactly what God is using to set the stage for something historic.

    A Biblical Lateral Career Move: The Pragmatic Entrepreneur of Judges 4

    If you read Judges 4, you will briefly meet a man named Heber the Kenite. The Israelites were in a state of national crisis. For twenty years, they had been brutally oppressed by a Canaanite king named Jabin and his ruthless military commander, Sisera. The Canaanite dominance was built on terrifying military technology: nine hundred iron chariots that dominated the flat plains. 

    The situation was so desperate that God raised up a prophetess named Deborah and a general named Barak to lead an unlikely, under-equipped Israelite rebellion.

    And buried in the text of this story we meet, Heber, a ‘Kenite’ usually glossed over in sermons and Sunday schools. The Kenites were traditionally allied with Israel. But Heber made a controversial decision to relocate. The text gives us the exact geographical logistics:

    “Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.” (Judges 4:11 NIVUK)

    Heber had left the Kenites. For some reason that grabbed my attention.

    Why would he leave his family and pitch his tent by a prominent landmark near a major trade route? The historical clues point to a classic business move, further confirmed by his subsequent networking:

    “…there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.” (Judges 4:17 NIVUK)

    I’m told (by Google, obviously) that the name “Kenite” has linguistic roots linked to metalworking. It’s not stretching the narrative to assume this particular Kenite did work with metal, as we will see from some of the items in his tent.

    But first, note that King Jabin (the Canaanite ruler brutally oppressing the Israelites) built his military dominance on 900 iron chariots. Is it possible that Heber essentially moved his family to the ancient equivalent of a booming tech hub to secure highly lucrative government contracts?

    We know he was successful because of the details hidden in the Song of Deborah in the following chapter. When his wife Jael later entertains a guest, the text highlights the sheer wealth and professional standing of their household:

    “He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer.” (Judges 5:25-26 NIVUK)

    Heber had acquired the luxury goods of the Canaanite elite (“a bowl fit for nobles”) and possessed the heavy-duty artisan tools of a master contractor (“the workman’s hammer”).

    He thought he was just making a smart lateral move. He found a neutral location, secured a lucrative market, and built a comfortable life for his family.

    The Illusion of the Secular Strategy

    Had Heber spent years under that tree at Zaanannim congratulating himself on his political savvy and business acumen? He had after all built a safe, neutral bubble in a volatile world.

    But God had other, deeper plans.

    When the Israelite army finally clashed with the Canaanites at the River Kishon, God intervened. A sudden torrential downpour turned the battlefield into a swamp. Sisera’s terrifying iron chariots were instantly bogged down in the mud, rendering his military advantage completely useless. 

    The Canaanite army was routed, and Commander Sisera was forced to flee on foot. Exhausted and running for his life, he spotted the landmark tree and remembered the business treaty with Heber’s successful household:

    “Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite…” (Judges 4:17 NIVUK)

    He stepped into the tent expecting diplomatic immunity. Instead, he walked precisely into the trap God had been setting for years.

    Heber provided the logistical framework, but it was his wife, Jael, who possessed the clarity and bravery to act.

    She did not need an army.

    She took the very tools of her husband’s commercial success (the high-status bowl to lower the commander’s guard, and the heavy workman’s hammer from the business) to deliver a definitive victory for Israel, just as the prophetess Deborah had foretold.

    “But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.” (Judges 4:21 NIVUK)

    Am I Heber?

    Sometimes we can divide our lives into the “spiritual” and the “practical”. We think our church involvement is the spiritual part, while our career moves, house purchases, and professional networking are just the practical necessity of paying the bills. 

    I think Heber’s story dismantles that divide. It tells us that God is the master of repurposing our logistics.

    When my wife Andrea and I look at our own recent relocation, something about this story rings true. That initial temporary cover in the North of England led to further work. And after an excruciating 18-month separation, we finally sold our house in Devon, and Andrea was able to join me (thank you, Lord). We still had to live with family for a while but we have now finally bought a new home and are settling into a church that our adult kids were already part of. 

    I sense we have been divinely relocated for a purpose we have not yet fully seen. So I’m choosing to see this story as prophetic for us as a couple. The logistics of the move might have been driven by the tools of my trade at the time, but I believe God uses the practical moves of one partner to position the other for extraordinary impact.

    Re-evaluating Your Logistics

    We tend to divide our lives into the “spiritual” and the “practical”. We think our church involvement is the spiritual part, while our career moves, house purchases, and professional networking are just the practical necessity of paying the bills.

    Heber’s story dismantles that divide. It tells us that God is the master of repurposing our logistics.

    • That job you took just because the hours suited your family better.
    • That neighbourhood you moved into purely because the property prices made sense.
    • Those professional skills you have spent a decade honing in a distinctly secular environmen.

    You might think you are just managing a career, but you might actually be setting the stage. God routinely uses our most ordinary, self-interested decisions to place us (or our families) in the exact geographical and professional locations required for His purposes.

    Four Ways to Repurpose Your Professional Life

    If you want to stop feeling like your 9-to-5 life is a spiritual waiting room, it is time to look at your practical logistics through a different lens. Here is how to start:

    1. Map your “Zaanannim”

    Acknowledge where you are right now. Take a piece of paper and write down your current practical logistics. Note your office location, your neighbourhood, and your kids’ school gates. Stop apologising for the practical decisions that brought you there. Acknowledge that God has allowed you to pitch your tent exactly there for a reason, even if that reason is not yet visible.

    2. Audit your “workman’s hammer”

    What are the professional skills you use to pay the bills? Project management, cleaning, financial forecasting, cooking, corporate communications, or contract negotiation? Stop viewing them as purely secular tools. They are assets for the Kingdom. Dedicate them to God today so they are ready to be picked up when a moment of crisis or opportunity requires them.

    3. Look for the hidden “alliances”

    Who are you networking with? Heber had an alliance with King Jabin. You might be interacting daily with clients or colleagues who share none of your values. Do not assume you are compromising just by being in the room. You might be the person God is keeping in place for a future intervention, a moment of grace, or a crucial shift in workplace culture. Yes, your presence can make a difference to the atmosphere in the room.

    4. Prepare for the divine interruption

    Sisera arrived exhausted, desperate, and completely unannounced.

    The Kingdom of God rarely sends a calendar invite.

    Be spiritually awake enough in your daily routine to recognise when a standard Tuesday afternoon suddenly turns into a divine appointment. When the moment walks through your door, have the moral clarity of Jael to act.

    5. Look for the shared calling

    If you are married, pay close attention to how your career moves impact your spouse. Do not assume a relocation is just about your paycheck. Your lateral career move might actually be the logistical setup for your partner’s greatest season of kingdom impact. Pray about it together.

    6. Let peace lead your logistics

    When I quit my job, I had no backup plan, only peace. Sometimes God asks you to leave a space before He reveals the destination. Do not be afraid to step out in faith. The text message that changes everything might only arrive three weeks before your deadline.

    Your current position is not a compromise. It is a setup. Be ready.

    Who is Jon Petts? Find out here...