“Orange Juice from Oranges:” Questions of Faith

Written by Danika Delello

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”
Psalm 119:160 KJV

In a blog post earlier this year, I mentioned my long-time struggle with depression. Along with that depression came years of doubts about my faith. Depression had ripped out the floor from beneath my feet, and that led me to question everything I knew. Was God really the God of the Bible? How did I know the Bible was accurate? Did Jesus really live, die, and rise from the dead?
I was terrified to ask these questions at first. Every time they rose to my mind, I pushed them back harder and further, afraid to voice my doubts about something so fundamental. I didn’t want my community to know about my doubts, and I was sick with fear that my faith would prove to be unfounded. If God wasn’t who I thought He was, I didn’t know what my life would be.

By the grace of God, a friend of mine was able to put words to my unspoken doubts and fears. He encouraged me to talk to my parents and others. Most importantly, he told me not to be afraid to ask my questions and to seek answers to them. He urged me to turn over every rock and read every book and call every expert in my quest to settle these questions of my faith.
“Oranges will always produce orange juice,” he said.
It was a simple analogy, and perhaps a silly one, but it liberated me to begin my journey.

Oranges will always produce orange juice, he said, and truth will always produce more truth. You can never squeeze an orange so much that it will produce apple juice. In the same way, if you press God for answers, He will always reveal truth.

My friend went on to say that if the Bible wasn’t true, then I had better find out and learn to live with it. If, on the other hand, it was God’s Word, as he believed, then I could fire every question and throw every problem at it. God could take my doubts. He could stand up to my scrutiny. To give another analogy, I could test the gold of God’s Word all day, every day, and always find it pure and unalloyed.

I followed his advice. For several years, I devoured apologetics books and spoke with pastors, Bible teachers, and theologians. I took classes and went to conferences. I read about other religions and compared their evidence with the evidence for the Bible.

Admittedly, there were times when the answers I found didn’t fit into my worldview or experience. It was then I learned that my thinking was flawed and incomplete. I allowed the truth I’d discovered to change my mind.

Eventually, I arrived at a place where I could walk forward in faith in Christ once again. I could have spent my lifetime asking more questions, but for years I had been relentlessly squeezing the Bible for truth and had never yet found a lie.

For any of you who have had doubts or questions about your faith, you can bring them to God. He is not intimidated by your uncertainty. You don’t need to be either. His Word will always withstand whatever questions you can bring against it. Oranges will always produce orange juice. I’ve never seen them produce anything else.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8 KJV

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