In Search Of A Better Tomorrow

Message by Wil Pounds

Daily Devotion: From Doubt to Faith

Would you consider it a compliment if someone called you a “doubting Thomas”?

Doubting is a vital ingredient in all mature critical thinking. No one really respects a gullible person. The mature person weighs the facts and draws his conclusions based upon solid information.

Christ drew even closer to His disciples when they found it hard to believe. He did not push them away, or give up on them; He gave them space to think, ponder and meditate on the reality of spiritual truths.

His disciple Thomas doubted the witness of his fellow disciples when they sought him out and told him that Jesus was risen from the dead. Jesus did not jump in with a quick revelation. He let Thomas sweat it out for eight days (John 20:24-29).

“And after eight days. . . Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst, and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (v. 26).

God deals with us in our doubts the same way He did with Thomas. When we acknowledge our doubts, Christ reaches out to us, and as we yield to His presence He reveals more and more of Himself to us.

Don’t run from your doubts or deny them. Acknowledge them to God and ask Him for wisdom to understand things that are beyond our reason.

Our doubts become the means of experiencing the reality of Christ more profoundly. He reaches out to us in our unique needs. To Thomas He says, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing” (v. 27).

It is not a matter of psyching ourselves up. It is our response to His wisdom, insight and intimate presence with us.

There is a lot of psychological babble and nonsense in religious circles. You need to doubt a lot of things you read and hear. Get into God’s Word and listen to His voice and see the truth through His eyes, and think His thoughts.

The response of Thomas was, “My Lord, and my God!” (v. 28). That is the only legitimate response when we submit to His truth. Thomas declared Jesus to be Jehovah, LORD, Master, Sovereign! Jesus Christ is my personal God. He is my Lord and my God! Thomas in that moment of truth came to a personal, intimate relationship with God in Christ.

What question of doubt would you ask Christ today? What is the one thing you stumble over? Go ahead and ask Him right now. Be patient and listen to His response with divine wisdom.

Perhaps there have been some changes in circumstances in your life that have caused you to doubt God’s faithfulness. Can you trust Him with these? Are you humble enough to allow Him to answer them in His own time and accept His answer when He gives it? Are you humble enough to respond, “My Lord and my God”?

Your situation is not hopeless. He gave you a mind as well as a heart. He will provide what you need if you will allow Him.

The Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas. What finally got through to Thomas was the presence of Jesus Christ, identified by His wounds in His hands, feet and side.

It is this same love of Jesus that changes our hearts. The truth of God’s love in Christ changes our lives. The death of Christ continually proves the truth of the gospel. C. H. Spurgeon said, “Incarnate Deity, the notion of God that lived, and bled, and died in human form, instead of guilty man is itself its own best witness.”

Ask God for the evidence. God is more interested in revealing Himself to you than you are in seeking Him. Jesus always comes down to our level and reveals Himself to us. He moves us from doubt to trust. The simple truth is if we do believe in Christ, it is because He has always been there before hand leading us to Himself.

Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006