Believing Thomas

Today at church Pastor Kaja spoke about the disciple Thomas, and I got a little bit of a different perspective on the poor guy.  Thomas has kinda gotten the short end of the stick.  The only thing that anyone remembers about him is how he messed up when he doubted Jesus.  No one remembers that he was a great evangelist and missionary and that he was the first to bring the gospel to India, or that he started 7 1/2 churches there that have survived to this day. Nope. He doubted.

I think this is the single most encouraging story that I have ever heard.  I have a friend who has been on my heart for the last year who has been having a horrible time believing in Jesus.  He's good with God, but Jesus is that "stone that causes him to stumble."  I love this friend with my whole heart and have been praying desperately that God open his eyes, but I confess that until today, I haven't been praying with faith that it will happen.  Today in church I felt God telling me, that if He can prove to Thomas that His Son is raised from the dead, He can sure as heck get through to my friend.  If Jesus can walk through walls to appear to Thomas so that he can put his hand in Christ's hands and side, he can certainly show himself to my friend in a very real way.

Jesus must have desperately loved Thomas.  Thomas was the inquisitive one, always asking questions.  In fact, he was the one asking when the other disciples were too chicken to admit that they didn't know what was going on. In John, when Lazarus was sick and Jesus was going to go back to Jerusalem (where the teachers of the law were trying to kill him), Thomas was the first to say, "let us go and die with him."  Thomas was brave.  I think I want to be like Thomas.  And I think Jesus must have loved him something awful.  He went out of His way to appear especially to Thomas, showing him amazing mercy and patience.  He clearly wanted Thomas to know Him and to know that He was alive.  Thomas mattered. 

Jesus is especially fond of my friend too.  In Matthew, Jesus talks about leaving the 99 sheep to go in search of the 1 who is missing.  I had forgotten about that.  The Father is in pursuit of my friend, and I have complete faith that He will catch him.  And when he does, I cannot wait to see the outcome.  Thomas changed the world for Christ despite his doubt, in fact, I would argue that his time of doubt strengthened his future faith.  My friend has so many extraordinary gifts that God will use to transform the lives of those with whom he comes in contact, and I can't wait to see it happen.  I have confidence that God will do this and I love Him for the love that He has for us.