‘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 NIV
When the disciples told Thomas, ‘We have seen the Lord!’, Thomas refused to believe them. 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.’ When Jesus appeared to the disciples again, this time Thomas was there too. Jesus invited Thomas to touch His scars and see His hands. When Thomas did this, He stopped doubting and exclaimed ‘My Lord and my God!’ (v.28 NIV). Thomas has often been given a bad reputation because of his doubt, but how often do we find ourselves doubting God too? We might believe in the resurrection, but we doubt that God will come through for us in the situation we’ve been praying about for years. We can doubt His love, goodness, grace, faithfulness, and promises. We doubt Him because He does things that we don’t understand. But we’re not going to understand everything in this life. This is where we need to have faith that God’s in control. The Bible says: ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’ (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). Thomas only believed when he saw Jesus with his own eyes, but Jesus said, ‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ (John 20:29 NIV). We don’t always see God working in our lives, and it can be challenging to have faith in a God we can’t see. But Jesus says that we’re blessed when we keep believing and when we keep trusting. So let’s take all our doubts to Jesus, and ask Him to help us have faith in Who He is and what He’s doing in our lives. What Now? Imagine yourself kneeling at the cross. Hand over any doubts you have about God’s character and ways, and ask Him to help you have increased faith instead.