Doubt
Sunday, April 24, 2022
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.””
John 20:24-29
Another famous passage after the Resurrection is the story of the disciple Thomas, who doubted the stories he was told about Jesus by the other disciples and wanted physical evidence. Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap for this attitude. He was a faithful disciple and he was most likely still fearful and uncertain about the future after the crucifixion. After seeing the Lord and believing, he went on to missions as far away as India, where he was martyred; Thomas is to this day the patron saint of Christians in India. Was he the only one with doubts? Read this passage in Matthew:
“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”
Matthew 28:16-17
I struggle with doubt every single day because of my left-brained rational/logical way of thinking and I must pray about it often. I appreciate having and seeing physical evidence and proof of root causes of events. In fact, a lot of my Engineering career was based on understanding and having sufficient evidence to solve problems. The Resurrection of Jesus is a supernatural event, requiring a suspension of materialistic scientism as a basis for reason. It is a stumbling block for many people, as it was for me during many years of my life.
But doubt does not equate to unbelief. I have found that my doubts can lead to an increase in faith because I express them honestly to God in prayer and He answers with comfort, peace, and love. He has also shown me signs that help remove those doubts, like Jesus did with Thomas. We are not blind “meat robots” in an uncaring universe, but are truly beloved sheep of the Good Shepherd and are given free will, curiosity and intellect by a merciful Creator.
When in doubt, I also turn to writers like C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel and Philip Yancey, who have been in states of disbelief or doubt, but have been overwhelming convinced of the true path to God through reason, experience and analysis. Give your doubts to God today!
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash