Believing without seeing

Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - John 20.29

When Jesus came into the room where the disciples were they were all not a little surprised. When Thomas showed up a few days  later the disciples said that they had seen Jesus. It took Thomas eight days to get there, and when he did he could not be convinced that it truly was Jesus until he not only saw Him, but actually put his fingers in Jesus’ wounds.

So when Jesus arrived He offered Thomas a chance to do just that – ‘Here, look at me and put your hands in my wounds.’

Then Thomas confessed ‘My Lord and my God.’

Jesus then said that Thomas was blessed for his belief, but would have been more blessed if he had believed without seeing.

I hate it when I do that. I love the fact that God loves me enough to help me believe, but I would love to just simply believe without the signs and proofs. Peter wrote about the kind of joy that comes with that belief – ‘whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.’

I can do okay when it comes to salvation and knowing that I am saved, but it falls short when I need to remember that He promised to be with me and take care of me and to be my shepherd. So over and over again He has to do something to prove it to me.

I long for the day when I can just believe Him without having to reach out and ‘touch the wounds.’

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.