Why I Believe In Jesus Christ Of Nazareth: My Story From Christian Upbringing, To Unbelief, To Faith Again

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Why I Believe In Jesus Christ Of Nazareth: My Story From Christian Upbringing, To Unbelief, To Faith Again

I believe in Jesus Christ today not because I never doubted, but because doubt became part of the road that forced me to ask harder questions, examine my assumptions and pay attention to experiences I came to understand as God's answer to me.

I Was Born Into A Christian Home In Jalingo

I grew up in Jalingo, Taraba State, in a Christian home with my mother, Dr. Mrs. Christie Salami Zaku, Ph.D, and my father, Mr. Fred Taki Zaku. Prayer, family devotion, church on Wednesdays and Sundays, and joining church units were normal parts of life.

I truly believed what I was taught as a child. My later doubt was not because Christianity was absent from my upbringing.

Then I Started Asking Questions Nobody Around Me Seemed To Answer

As I grew older, questions started bothering me: Who created God? Why am I here? What is this earth about? Why do bad people prosper? Why do good people die? Why are so many people poor while a few are extremely rich? Is God one or many?

What troubled me most was not that the questions existed. It was that I did not feel the pastors, teachers and prophets around me were addressing them deeply enough for the teenager I was becoming.

Around My JS3 Years, Doubt Became Unbelief

Around my JS3 years at Concordia College in Yola, Adamawa State, I increasingly answered my own unanswered questions with a simple conclusion: perhaps there is no God.

I still did Christian things outwardly, but inwardly the belief had lost its purpose and power for me.

I Carried That Unbelief Into My University Years

That inner conclusion stayed with me through university, including my years at Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.

I am not writing this to glorify unbelief. I am writing it because pretending I never doubted would make the testimony less true.

Why 'Who Created God?' Became Such A Big Question For Me

I thought that if everything needed a creator, then God must also need one. I did not yet understand the classical idea of God as an uncreated or necessary being rather than one more created object inside the universe.

Learning that philosophers have argued both for and against versions of this idea did not automatically make me Christian, but it helped me realise my childhood formulation of the question was not the end of the discussion.

The Problem Of Suffering Was Even Harder

The prosperity of wicked people, the death of good people, poverty, injustice and unequal opportunity troubled me deeply.

The philosophical problem of evil remains a serious question, not something I want to dismiss with a slogan. Christianity gave me ways to think about freedom, brokenness, judgement, hope and mystery, but I do not claim to know God's reason for every tragedy.

Then Came The Five Prayer Points

At some point I wrote five specific prayer points under a challenge to Jesus asking Him to prove Himself to me if He truly is God.

I will tell that story honestly in a separate article because only two of the five details have been typed into this project so far, and I refuse to invent the remaining three from memory.

The Almajiri Boy Near Taraba State University Changed Something In Me

Later, near Taraba State University, I met a barefoot Almajiri boy who was looking for a stranger who had promised to buy him footwear on his previous free Friday.

After I gave him ₦1,000, he began crying and praying. One line he prayed in Hausa was: “Allah yasa ka gama makaranta har ka samu baban mastayi kamar likita.” I understood that as a prayer that I would finish school and attain a great position, like becoming a doctor.

Why That Moment Became 'Thank You Jesus, You Are Very Real' For Me

What shook me was not simply that a child prayed for me. It was how I understood the specificity and sequence of what he prayed in relation to the private prayer points I had written.

For me, that encounter became a faith turning point. I present it as my testimony, not as laboratory proof that forces another person to believe.

Faith Did Not Mean I Stopped Asking Questions

Coming back to faith did not switch off my mind. I still believe Christians should be able to ask difficult questions about God, suffering, money, politics, injustice, prayer and Scripture.

A faith that collapses because somebody asks 'why?' was never the kind of faith I wanted to return to.

Why IBIFOUNDRY Says Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria means 'glory to God alone.' For me it is not decorative Latin. It is a reminder that whatever good comes from my work should not become a shrine to my ego.

That is why IBIFOUNDRY can pursue excellence, business and usefulness while still returning the final glory to God.

What I Would Tell The Teenager Who Secretly Thinks 'There Is No God'

I would not insult you, frighten you or ask you to switch off your questions. Write the questions down. Read serious Christian and non-Christian arguments. Separate what you were poorly taught from what Christianity actually claims.

And if you choose to pray, pray honestly. God does not need a performance from somebody who is genuinely searching.

Why I Refuse To Edit Doubt Out Of My Christian Story

If I removed the years when I inwardly thought there was no God, the testimony would sound cleaner but become less true.

The Difference Between The Christianity I Inherited And The Faith I Chose

Childhood faith came through family and church. Adult faith required me to decide whether I personally trusted what I had inherited.

Why My Faith Today Is Not Fear Of Asking Again

I do not believe Jesus needs me to pretend a difficult question is easy.

What My Parents Gave Me Before I Understood Its Value

Prayer, devotion and church life gave me a language I later returned to when the questions became personal.

What Soli Deo Gloria Means In My Daily Work

Returning glory to God should affect how I treat people, money, claims and results — not only what I print in a footer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was I raised as a Christian?

Yes. I was raised in a Christian home in Jalingo and participated in prayer, devotion, church services and church life.

Did I become an atheist?

From around my JS3 years through university, my inward conclusion became 'there is no God,' even though I still participated in Christian practices.

What made me believe again?

There was not only one intellectual sentence. A major turning point was the Almajiri encounter near Taraba State University and how I understood his prayers in relation to my private five prayer points.

Do I think my testimony proves God to everybody?

No. It is my testimony and my interpretation of what happened to me.

Do I still have questions?

Yes. Faith did not remove every philosophical or theological question.

Why Jesus specifically?

My returned faith is Christian and centred on Jesus Christ, Scripture and the way I understand God's work in my life.

What does Soli Deo Gloria mean to me?

It means glory to God alone and explains why I want my work and brands to continually return glory to God.

Can a Christian question God?

I believe honest questions can be part of serious faith. The Bible itself contains lament, protest, doubt and searching.

Should someone believe just because my story happened?

No. Read, ask, think, pray if you are willing, and make your own decision.

Where can I read another part of my testimony?

IBIFOUNDRY already has separate testimony pages about later experiences in my Christian journey, linked from this article.

Sources And Related Context

https://www.ibifoundry.com.ng/post/the-divine-handshake-how-a-3-minute-prayer-by-rev-dr-francis-detu-shattered-an-8-year-demonic-aff

https://www.ibifoundry.com.ng/post/thanksgiving-transformation-where-have-i-been-mom

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmological-argument/

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus

Additional GODMODE V2 Chapters

What My Parents' Christian Home Gave Me Before I Ever Doubted

My doubt did not erase the value of the Christian home I received. Prayer, discipline, church life and family devotion gave me a language for God long before I knew how hard I would later question Him.

Why I Refuse To Make Doubt Sound More Glamorous Than It Was

Doubt can sound intellectually fashionable when retold years later. Mine was not a clever brand position. It was an inward conclusion that slowly emptied the Christian habits I still practised of meaning.

Why This Story Now Sits Inside IBIFOUNDRY

My Christian faith does not replace the work of building useful knowledge. It explains why I want that work to end in gratitude rather than self-worship.