What can we do with doubts? How can we reconcile our doubts with the belief that Jesus is who He says He is? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Jesus waited days before appearing to Thomas.
Have you been waiting a long time for Jesus to rectify a troubling situation in your life? Has that caused you to question His care for you? Have you, like Thomas, expressed the thought “I won’t believe until I see?” Most likely, what you think you need to see is not really what you need to see. Jesus knows what you need to see. The long wait gives opportunities to wrestle with doubts, take them to Jesus, and choose to trust Him when you cannot see clearly what He is doing.
Soon after I gave my life to Jesus, someone challenged me with this devastating comment: “How can you be so stupid? I thought you had a brain.” That was a painful experience for me. Even though Jesus had revealed himself to me in a life-changing encounter, I began to doubt. Maybe Jesus was not real. Maybe I had made it all up. I cried out to Jesus. He reassured me, “Without Me, you do not have life.” I knew without any doubt that Jesus spoke the truth. I decided then I would trust him with the outcome of any future doubts.
Because I’m married to an unbeliever, Jesus has used a long wait to provide opportunities for me to wrestle with doubts. Over the years, this circumstance has occasionally caused me to doubt Jesus’ love for me. During times of doubt, I have chosen to trust Jesus. He has repeatedly shown His care and love for my husband and me, so I keep choosing to believe He is who He says He is.
There have been many times when I asked Jesus to intervene in the life of my husband and children. Even though most of them still deny Jesus, I keep seeing Him do amazing things in their lives. Consequently, I choose to trust the One who continues to express His love for me. I used to think what I needed to see was my family being saved. I now believe that what I need to see is Jesus alive and at work in my life and theirs, for His glory. No doubt about it, He is my life!
Sharon Chapman
Freedom in Christ Ministries