Always Emily

“I think [Thomas] doubted because he wanted so much to believe.” -Angie Smith

This quote in my Bible study changed the way I think about doubt.

I had to really think about it: doubt coming from a place of pure desire and immeasurable need.

I feel a little bad for Thomas—nicknamed ‘doubting Thomas.’ All those years with Jesus, and thousands of years later he’s still known for that one time.

In John chapter 20, the disciples tell Thomas they’ve seen the Lord resurrected. Thomas tells them: “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into his side, I will never believe” (verse 25).

That’s a bold statement, yet one I believe many would repeat today. God needs to show Himself to me. If I get my miracle, I’ll believe.

How many people like Thomas do we know?

What if we viewed them in a new light? That their doubt doesn’t come from a place of malice, but of desperate need. It’s not that they don’t want to believe, but that they want to.

Jesus shows up a week later and says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”

Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (verses 27-29).

Jesus doesn’t rebuke him. He doesn’t ask him why he didn’t believe. He doesn’t punish him for not believing.

It can be frustrating when people doubt things we believe in. We want to shake them and yell “why can’t you see this?!”

What if, instead, we tell them to dig into that doubt? To ask God questions, to look for the answers in the Bible, to talk to us about what they’re thinking.

One of the verses from the Gospels I think about the most is Mark 9:24b: “I do believe, help my unbelief!”

This line is said to Jesus, but I believe we can have a hand in helping people’s unbelief.

The first step, however, is to meet them in it. Don’t rebuke them or be angry. Talk with them, answer their questions, be patient, and pray for and with them.

If they’re asking questions, even ones that feel angry, they’re thinking about faith, about God, about Jesus. Acknowledge that desire to believe, even if it feels like it’s buried beneath a sea of doubt.

Always,

Emily

P.S. If you yourself are someone wrestling with doubt and unsure what to believe, ask God about it. Prayer is quite simple: think, say, or write anything to God and He hears you.