Date: 12 Jun 2018 Comments: 0

When life is going well, it’s easy for us to be happy and adjusted. However, when a true trouble comes our way, we tend to lose our nerve or break down quicker. I am not immune to this and would never claim to be. Yet, as a Christian, we must learn to trust that which cannot be seen because the Holy Spirit moves in ways that our eyes and perception can scarcely realize, at least at the time. We want to say that we believe in God at all times but is it really that easy? It wasn’t for Thomas! Today in my reading, I found myself agreeing with Thomas at times because I want to see that God is doing something and when I can’t see it, it drives me crazy. In John, we read about the famous ‘doubting Thomas’: “One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ but he replied: I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” (John 20:24-25, NLT). How many times do we do this? How many times do I do this? Say “God! I believe you love me unconditionally but I don’t trust you right now because I can’t see what you’re doing!” I am guilty of this more often than I can even count. I say I trust Him but keep wanting proof of his love. Of course, as the story goes, Jesus eventually does reveal himself to Thomas and he realizes how foolish he was to doubt it. One part that we often overlook though, is Jesus’s words about those who have never seen him in the flesh (namely every living person in the world today). “Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me!’ (John 20:29, NLT). The bottom line is that it’s not unusual to question God’s direction sometimes. What is important is that we don’t worry so much about the proof that we fail to see the power at work in our lives.