This morning, I had the opportunity to speak at our school chapel. The subject I had been assigned was honesty and the Biblical character I was asked to use as an example was Thomas.
Most associate doubt with Thomas rather than honesty. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection, Thomas was not present. So later, the disciples were relaying their experience of seeing the risen Jesus but Thomas struggled with trusting what they were telling him. In fact, John 20 tells us that he went so far as to say, “unless I see him for myself and touch the wounds of his crucifixion, I will not believe.” Thus he has been dubbed Doubting Thomas.
But I think if we are real with ourselves and God we should ask ourselves how differently would we have responded? Don’t we have doubts and fears when it comes to circumstances we don’t know how to navigate?
I think we should give Thomas a bit of a break. He was real and transparent.
In John 14, when Jesus was preparing his disciples for what was to come – his death and resurrection, Jesus made the statement that he would return and take his followers to be with him. Thomas was the only one to ask a question. I think he was not the only one with questions and doubts, just the only one willing to be honest about them. He asked, “Jesus, how can we know how to get to where you are going? We don’t know the way.”
He was honest. It was not that he doubted Jesus’ truthfulness, he just wanted to understand and he was willing to show his struggle. In fact, one of the greatest and concise statements of faith in the New Testament came from the lips of Thomas in John 20:28, “My Lord and my God.”
The reality is that God already knows our thoughts, our fears, our doubts. Why would we try to hide those from him – – that would just be dishonest!
Today, let Honest Thomas be an example of being real with God – and with each other.
Be blessed today!
However, along the way he encountered an interruption – over 5000 of them to be exact. He had compassion on the masses, he healed the sick and then he fed all of them before sending them home. Once the crowds were handled, he sent his disciples boating and he resumed his quest to find some solitude on a mountainside where he could pray.
In other words, we are invited into this creative process.
I am reminded of David’s inspiring words in Psalm 121 –
The reminder I take from this passage is that God pursues us. He stands “all day long” with hands outstretched waiting for us to notice. But so often we are lost in our own pursuits. We are distracted by our own imaginations. I even fear that humanity has a tendency to take God-given talents and use them to create a false sense of independence.
Clay in the Hands 