Oh Thomas…
Photo by Thanti Riess on Unsplash
Hello, sweet friends!
I have been pondering this verse for a couple of weeks now, and I would love to chat with you about it.
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29
Jesus spoke these words to Thomas after His resurrection.
Thomas was not there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples.
The disciples told Thomas all that happened! They could not control their excitement!
After hearing their story, Thomas finally replied…
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20:25
Oh Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. Ye of little faith.
However, aren’t we Thomas sometimes?
Don’t we often live in this place of, “Well, I will have to see it to believe it!”
We are even at times afraid to speak of our prayers and petitions…because…
What if they don’t happen?
What if God doesn’t come through?
What if we look like a fool in front of our friends and family?
Oh goodness. We of little faith…
Jesus is telling Thomas in this passage…You only believe because you “see” me. But, blessed are those that do not see the evidence, yet believe.
We all know these people. Those full of faith! Constantly praising and praying and full of overflowing faith!
We are amazed at their faith and we desperately want this kind of faith.
Yet, the Thomas inside of us doubts.
We doubt He will really come through for us.
We doubt He will answer a prayer of a certain magnitude.
We doubt His Goodness.
We doubt His ability to do “immeasurably more” than we can even think or imagine.
We believe the lie that we aren’t a “good enough” Christian for God to answer our prayers.
Many times, we don’t express that doubt, but God, Creator, knows our hearts and minds. He sees the doubt.
He sees the lack of faith.
He sees it all.
How it must grieve His Father heart.
Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24
For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. Jeremiah 16:17
For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. Proverbs 5:21
Perhaps we don’t see miracles from God because we don’t expect to see them.
Our eyes are not on the spiritual, but on the natural.
So, how do we get to this place of “believing without seeing?”
We ask God to increase our faith every single day.
We read His Word and ask Him to let His Word resonate and settle deep into our hearts.
We become what we devour. Let’s devour His Word.
We practice faith by our words and actions.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:9…
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And The God of all peace will be with you.”
What are we practicing day and and day out?
We are paralyzed by fear. Fear of being let down. Fear of looking foolish. Fear of what others think of us.
Picture King David.
Standing in front of Goliath.
All the eyes of Israel watching him.
Everyone thinking he was the biggest idiot fool.
Yet, His faith gave him the victory.
His faith was not in himself or the army behind him standing mouths agape in horror as he stepped up to this massive giant Goliath.
His faith was in God.
God alone.
Not man. Not himself.
Of course, he did not know what the outcome would be.
However, David trusted that God would get the glory no matter the outcome.
God would ultimately be exalted no matter what the outcome was.
Y’all!
Let’s ask for this kind of faith.
Let’s practice this kind of faith.
Over and over and over.
We are allowed to ask for Miracles!!
The outcome may look different, but He will give us peace and understanding in whatever outcome He desires.
James tells us, “we have not because we ask not…” James 4:2
There is no fruit and never will there be fruit in a doubting life.
We will get exactly what we expect if we demand to see before we believe…nothing.
Oh, but if we believe, believe that He is able, we will never be disappointed.
We won’t be disappointed because our HOPE is in HIM, and not an outcome.
We will stand on His Promises and His Word and we will let Him decide the outcome.
There is no room for doubt, only a heart filled to the brim and overflowing like our morning coffee cups!
Here is the thing…the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we know Him.
Our hearts and desires change and begin to align with His.
The desires of our hearts begin to be shaped by Him…and not shaped by our flesh.
Goodness, I think I will stop here.
I desperately want the faith of Abraham, David, Mary, Paul…
Don’t you?
Let’s ask for it.
walking by faith and not by sight
jill
