We all go through doubts in our faith from time to time. The fact that we have doubts means that our faith is real.
There may have been times when we doubted if God hears our prayers. Sometimes we are left in wonder when young children die or when an evil person seems to succeed in life, or we go through a great personal challenge.
Everyone has doubts, and perhaps they can be good for us sometimes because they drive us back to the risen Lord for answers.
Thomas gets this bad image for his doubts. He even earns a nickname: “Doubting Thomas.” Yet, he was just as committed as the other 10 disciples, perhaps even more so in some ways.
Just days or weeks before that first Palm Sunday, Jesus told the disciples that He had to go to Bethany, because His friend Lazarus was very sick. Most of the disciples cautioned Him away from the idea because of all the hatred toward Him fuming in nearby Jerusalem.
Yet, Thomas responded, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
Some may think that Thomas was being a pessimist, while in truth he was simply a realist, a pragmatist, a brave one to add. It was him who responded to Jesus’ assurances of heaven.
Jesus was telling the disciples in previous gospels that He had to leave to prepare a place for them in which they already knew the way. Yet, Thomas was brave enough to ask the question which was in everyone’s mind as he said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how can we know the way?”
Thomas’s question has prompted Jesus to give an answer, which we have come to know as one of the greatest verses of all time: ”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus speaks directly to us when He says “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Isn’t that the essence of real faith, to believe without seeing? Let us continue to put our hope in the risen Lord even when we do not have all the answers. With a trusting heart, God will reveal the answers to us in His time.
Meanwhile, God gives us evidences that He continues to exist every day. We hear Him speak to our thoughts as we read scriptures. We see His beauty in the world He has made for us and His love through the kind hand of a friend, family or even a stranger.
We see God’s work as someone discovers hope or meaning or peace in their life. We see His faithfulness and love day after day, as we know we do not walk this life alone.
Let us all give thanks to God for the example of Thomas and all the saints whose faiths have persevered and lived through generations.
Lord, fill us and move us with faith as we bring our doubts to You, knowing in our hearts that You are all that we will ever need.