John 11 - The Swindoll Study Bible

REFLECTIVE THOMAS John 11:16 Perhaps you have heard the phrase “doubting Thomas.” Aren’t you glad you don’t have that adjective attached to your name?

I think it would be better to call him “reflective Thomas.” He was a disciple who didn’t stop thinking. He was a disciple who had the guts to question, to raise his hand and say to the Teacher, “Wait. I don’t quite understand. That doesn’t make sense to me.” It was Thomas who understood what going to Bethany, so near Jerusalem, might mean for them all. But he knew they had to go just the same.

I call Thomas’s kind of honesty not only candid and adventurous but also courageous. I would love to see the ranks of Christianity filled with more courageous believers—gutsy enough to admit their struggles, to weep when sorrowful, to confess times of doubt in the valley, and to declare when confronted with truth, “I can’t see it quite that clearly, but this doesn’t destroy my faith.”

IMPACT John 11:45 Lazarus, just by living, became a reason the gospel was being shared. He was a walking miracle.

You don’t have to have been physically raised from the dead for your life to have an impact for Jesus on those you come into contact with each day. In fact, I’m convinced that every believer can, and often does, offer glimpses of God to the people around them. We would be absolutely amazed to know what an impact our lives are having on other people. It would probably be a great encouragement to us.

Perhaps you wrestle with the feeling that God isn’t using you or that you’re not really a significant part of His plan. But you will not know the impact of your life until eternity.