Jesus risen from the dead? Jesus alive? Initially the disciples found it hard to believe Jesus was with them as a real person with real help for their real problems. Jesus gave them convincing proof that He was alive and that he wasn’t just a vision or a ghost or a delusion. He was real. He was alive. He was with them. It’s no wonder joy and peace filled their hearts. However, we are often like one disciple who wasn’t with them that night His name was Thomas and when the disciples came to tell him that Jesus had really come to be with them and truly was alive again, Thomas doubted and said, “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 20:25 NLT)
Like Thomas, in the middle of harsh events, we think we have reason to doubt God’s presence and God’s ability to make something new and good of our broken and fearful circumstances. We’ve felt disappointment. We’ve seen bad things happen just as Thomas saw Jesus suffer and die. We’ve known hopes dashed and opportunities wasted. Our worlds have crashed as dramatically as Thomas’s world crashed when he saw a lifeless Jesus laid out in a tomb with a huge stone rolled in front of the entrance. What seems impossible for us to believe is only impossible when God is not involved. When God shows up, things happen that are way beyond what we can imagine. God’s ways are more wonderful than we have ever dared to hope. God’s power is stronger than anything we have ever encountered. God’s kindness extended towards us is unlike any response from another person that we’ve experienced.
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, 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 NLT)
Jesus did not judge Thomas for having doubts but He did invite Him to move into an experience of the truth and believe what he was seeing. Jesus asks the same of us. “Stop doubting and believe.” The question for us is whether we, like Thomas, will realize something incredible has taken place in us when we ask Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Saviour and affirm Him as, “My Lord and my God.” Thomas didn’t just say words; he took action in response to Jesus invitation. Like Thomas are we willing to enter into life with God in recovery and give our whole hearts, our whole minds, and our entire lives into the nail scarred hands of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ?
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Audio for Wednesday, April 3, 2013 -- Stop Doubting And Believe
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