Doubtful

Doubtful

Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:26-29

Life batters us at times. We can be banged around and buffeted by the ever-present winds of life—job changes (whether we want them or not), the frailty of our health or the health of our loved ones, rejection by friends, or another failed attempt on our part to do something we have long wanted to do.

This story of Thomas in John’s Gospel sheds some light on those moments of despair and offers a solution for how we might move forward through them. Growing up in Sunday school, we may have been introduced to this disciple as “doubting Thomas.” Little did we know at the time that we ourselves would exhibit similar doubts as the world came in around us.

Remember Thomas’s words to his fellow disciples when Jesus said He was heading back to Bethany to go to Lazarus’s grave? He is the one who was initially ready to charge headlong after Jesus: “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus” (John 11:16). Previous trips to Judea had been dangerous for them, and Jesus’ notoriety was growing among the religious leaders who wanted Him gone. Thomas was willing to stand at Jesus’ side, even to his death. And yet after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Thomas wasn’t there when the others saw Jesus, and he wouldn’t take their word that Jesus was alive.

And then, in the midst of his swirl of doubt, in walked Jesus. His opening words were, “Peace be with you.” Jesus didn’t chastise Thomas for his unbelief or insist that he believe without seeing, but He recognized the genuine doubts Thomas was feeling. The struggles Thomas was working through.

“Put your finger here. . . .”

Doubt. Perhaps you’ve been fortunate and haven’t experienced it in a while. I doubt it. It hits us all on a regular basis, and it can be devastating when it hits—causing us to lose not only focus, but hope. The devil uses doubt to get us off track, to sap us of our energy for the day. When it comes, it rocks our world. That certainly has happened to me in my life.

But then Jesus comes to us, as He came to Thomas, to keep those doubts from taking firm root. He calls us to faith, to a belief that in the end, even when it doesn’t always seem like it, we will prevail, we will win with Him.

Live as doubt-free as you can. And when doubts start to gather, honestly admit them to God.

Uncommon Key > What do you have a doubt about today? Give it to the one standing next to you—Jesus Christ.