Faith is always encouraged to be taken by believing in the unseen despite the unknown, despite the looming questions knocking on the door of your logical mind, and to be held above your understanding. This is exactly how a child believes. They take it all in and they leap into a joyous journey of walking blindly into the truth that they have been told and believe it to be absolute no matter how crazy that truth may seem to another. The Bible even refers to such a faith as that to be what we should desire to have. However, growing up you are shown that not everything you once held as absolute was necessarily proven to be so. You find out that what you once were so sure of was all a lie or hopeful imagination. You then begin to question everything, comparing it to a long list of absolutes you know that you know and you begin to ask yourself if it all measures up, if it all makes sense, if it all really is undeniable truth. What happens when you begin questioning your faith? Can you really be a person who is a Christian, who loves God, but who also begins to question everything from His Word, heaven and hell, and just how Jesus fits into all of it? What happens when your faith as you know it begins crumbling into your fingers and all you can muster up are more unanswered questions?
The mind is a complicated, messy place. It tells you when you’re hungry, when you probably shouldn’t trust someone, and ultimately what you know that you know that you know is fact. It holds your intuition and reason, your logic and your analytical processes. It is the ultimate deciding factor of what emotions you will act upon, and others you will ultimately store away. As a child, faith is easy because it’s a beautiful love story that grabs the hand of your hopeful nature and runs away with it. However, when you reach adulthood, that hope begins to dwindle and you’re left with what makes sense. Faith doesn’t always make sense.
This is the dividing wall where many choose what happens next. Either you give-up and throw it away because why would you fight for something that is so seemingly out of reach? Or you begin seeking for answers and digging without stopping until you find truth. Questions scare many people, including myself, because it reminds you just how unstable your foundation really is. However, I want to let you in on a simply yet profound truth. Questions aren’t the issue. Doubt is not the issue. The issue is what we do with those questions and doubts.
I truly believe that Thomas was someone many, if not most, people relate to. I also believe that he is someone God looks upon and grins with pleasure. Just like Thomas, we struggle to believe when Jesus is staring directly into our eyes and still asks to stick our fingers into His hands and side. Yet Jesus wasn’t offended or angry. He wasn’t even surprised because he knew Thomas. He knew Thomas’ heart and the way his mind worked and He took joy in meeting Thomas right where his questions and doubt lied. As a matter of fact, I believe He was delighted that Thomas was honest about his doubt and was still seeking truth. “If you seek me with all of your heart you will find me and know that I am Lord.” I could give you countless proof and show you all the apologetics explaining and proving how Jesus is real and how God's Word is reliable and documented fact, but there’s something about uncovering those truths for yourself that lifts the veil and allows you to stick your finger directly into His flesh.
It’s okay to question. It’s okay to doubt. He made your mind with the need to know. Seek Him out. I promise you He takes no greater delight in staring you directly into your eyes and saying, “Come my Love, see these scars and holes of mine? Come and stick your finger in my side and see for yourself that it truly is I.” Ask your questions. Be honest about your doubt. I promise you if you seek Him, He will not withhold the truth you so desperately desire.
