We all have times in our lives when, if you caught us in that moment, we would all appear faithless. God never wants our lives to be held hostage to a single moment of failure or unbelief.
In Scripture, Thomas is one of those people who was defined by a single moment in his life when he became universally known as “Doubting Thomas.” The sad part of this label is that most of the Church continues to refer to Thomas as a doubter and not the man who overcame his unbelief and made one of the greatest statements of faith in all of Scripture.
When the Lord first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, Thomas was not present. We are not told why he was absent. The disciples who were present when Jesus appeared excitedly said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas did what many of us have done – he spoke out of his pain. “I won’t believe 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: 24-29)
Like Thomas, we can lose our ability to believe if we tie ourselves to demands birthed in painful circumstances. Thomas decided he would stop believing unless Jesus met his demands. Jesus doesn’t always meet our demands, but He will always meet us. Eight days later, Jesus appears to them again and says to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 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 20:27-29) Jesus wants Thomas to believe. He provides him what he needed to overcome his doubt and He will do the same for you.
In that moment as Thomas saw the Lord standing before him without anger or condemnation, displaying the evidence of His resurrection, Thomas redefined his life with words that followed the revelation he was experiencing, “My Lord and My God!” Thomas went from a doubter to a proclaimer.
God does not want any of us living in the results of faithless words that do not define His full intent for our lives. We have a God of grace who knows what we need to overcome our doubts. Just as He did for Thomas, Jesus will encounter our lives with the evidence of His resurrection power that will change the way we speak and live.