Your Faith Doesn't Have To Look Pretty

Let’s be honest for a second—sometimes faith is a battle. I don’t mean the kind of battle where you charge in, confident and fearless, waving a victory flag in the air. I mean the kind where you’re gripping onto faith with trembling hands, going back and forward in your mind between, ‘I trust You, God… but I’m scared. No, I trust You. But what if? No. I trust You. I think.’

It’s the push and pull. The surrender and the doubt. The deep conviction tangled with fear. And if you’ve ever felt that tension—if you’ve ever wondered why your faith doesn’t look as strong, as steady, as effortless as someone else’s—I want you to know this:

You’re not alone. And your faith isn’t broken just because it’s messy.

Faith Doesn’t Have to Look the Way We Think It Should.

I think we often pick up what we think faith should look like. We see others who seem so calm in their trust in God, their walk looks almost perfect… and then there’s me. Stumbling, second-guessing, taking one step forward and two steps back. Some days, my faith feels strong. Other days, I’m just trying to keep my head above water.

Somewhere along the way, many of us picked up this idea that faith should be polished. That real faith means standing firm, never wavering, never questioning. That if we trust God, we won’t feel afraid, or uncertain, or exhausted.

But when I look at Scripture, I don’t see perfect, unwavering faith.

I see David, the man after God’s own heart—crying out in desperation, “How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever?” -Psalm 13:1.

I see Peter—bold, passionate Peter—stepping out onto the water in faith, only to sink the moment fear took hold.

Faith was never about being unshakable. It was never about feeling strong. It’s about where we turn when we don’t.

The Lie That Says “Real Faith” Means Never Struggling

Maybe you’ve felt it too—the pressure to make your faith look like something. To be okay. To have the right words. To be strong because people are watching.

But faith isn’t a performance. It’s not a perfectly curated moment. It’s not hands lifted in worship while pretending everything inside of you isn’t breaking.

Sometimes, faith is just showing up. It’s whispering prayers when you’re not even sure you believe them. It’s choosing to trust—even when that trust is full of trembling and doubt.

And you know what? That kind of faith counts too.

God Isn’t After Pretty. He’s After Honest.

Some of the most powerful prayers in Scripture aren’t polished. They’re raw. Messy. Undone.

Job—after losing everything—didn’t sit quietly and say, “Well, I trust God, so I won’t feel this pain.” No. He grieved. He questioned. He wrestled. And God met him there.

Jesus Himself, in the garden before the cross, prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me.” -Luke 22:42. Even Jesus—fully God, fully man—felt the weight of suffering. He trusted His Father, but showed us vulnerability in that story.

If Jesus wasn’t afraid to bring His full heart before God, why do we think we need to clean ours up first?

Your faith isn’t real because it looks strong. Your faith is real because you bring it to God—even when it feels weak.

If You’re Struggling, You’re Not Failing.

I don’t know what season you’re in right now. Maybe you’re in a place where faith feels solid, where trusting God comes easily. But maybe you’re in a season where faith feels like clinging to the edge of a cliff, trying not to let go.

Maybe you’re exhausted. Maybe you’re questioning. Maybe your prayers feel like they’re bouncing off the ceiling, and you’re wondering if God even hears you anymore.

If that’s where you are, hear me: God is not disappointed in you. He is not waiting for you to be stronger.

He is near.

And He doesn’t ask you to have perfect faith. He asks you to bring the faith you have—shaky, uncertain, full of questions—and lay it at His feet.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not the strength of your faith that holds you.

It’s the strength of the One you’re trusting in.

"But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”— 2 Corinthians 12:9

God’s power is made perfect in our weakness, not in our ability to hold it all together.

So if today, your faith feels like a mess, if it feels like you’re barely holding on… know this: Even with your messy, shaky, wavering, at times un-pretty faith…

God is holding onto you.

And He is not letting go.

Love, Sarah xx.

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