Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Faith”
Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus said, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed.” John 20:29 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The less proof you need, the stronger your faith is.”
I remember when I was a young Christian I frequently prayed a sincere and intense prayer for God to show Himself to me. No kidding, there were times when I really did ask Him to peel back the clouds and poke His face through. Just for a moment, only for me to see. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. But … He never did it. (I was confused and even a little annoyed when He didn’t. I mean, if He really wanted me to believe in Him then why wouldn’t He give me some real proof to hang that belief on?)
I also asked Him for less dramatic proof of His existence. An Isaiah-like vision of the throne room of heaven would have been fine. Or a talking burning bush like Moses got would have been ok too. I just wanted Him to give me something to work with; some physical proof of this spiritual reality I was supposed to believe in.
It was an immature faith I had at that time. The truth is, the more proof you need, the weaker your faith is. That was Jesus’ point to Thomas in John 20:29. You probably remember the story of “Doubting Thomas”. He was absent from the gathering of the disciples on that first evening after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to them in a locked room. When Thomas got back, all the other disciples excitedly told him about how the risen Jesus had appeared to them. But Thomas refused to believe it. He hadn’t seen it for himself and therefore he wouldn’t believe it to be true.
Eight days later Jesus appeared again, and this time Thomas was there. Jesus called him out. “Thomas, you don’t believe in Me because you didn’t see Me for yourself? Ok. Come over here and touch Me. Put your hand on my wounds. Stop being an unbeliever.” And Thomas, in awe and wonder, then confessed Jesus as Lord.
I’m jealous. Thomas got the physical proof he demanded. All I got was empty sky, empty dreams, and no burning bush. But, I also didn’t get tagged with the nickname “Doubting Jim” to carry with me for the rest of recorded history till the end of time. Poor Thomas.
The lesson we learn at Thomas’ expense is an important one. The weaker our faith, the more proof we expect. The stronger our faith, the less proof we need. After all, the very essence of faith is a strong belief in things we cannot see. It is the understanding and the certainty that even if we can’t see God, that doesn’t make Him any less real (Hebrews 11:1).
In retrospect I’m grateful that God didn’t answer those early, immature prayers of mine. Although my faith today still isn’t what it needs to be, it is stronger than it probably would have been if God had had to spoon-feed me just to get me to believe in Him.
I encourage you also to rely less on physical proof, and more on simple faith in your relationship with Him.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 