Galations 2: 20 NKJV
I must admit that I have been through a series of trials as of late. It is indeed times such as these where our faith, if we claim to have any, is truly tested. At times we may may very well feel truly alone in our walk through that valley we are in. We might also make the error of believing that our heavenly Father is somehow removed from our situation, leaving us to fend for ourselves. I say "Error" because this line of thought is indeed in error. For our heavenly Father is not a on again and off again God who simply sits afar off in heaven and watches as His children struggle through life on their own. This is the institutional church way of thought, and it is wrong. The apostle Paul tells us in Galations that we who know Christ Jesus today share a wonderful relationship with our Lord and savior which we did not have before. For once we accepted the truth and reality of the Lord Jesus and His finished work on that cross, we became unmistakingly linked with Him for eternity. Yes, Jesus still has taken His rightful place at the right hand of His Father in heaven, but He has also taken His place within us as well. Therefore, as we hear the continued calls for us to "Be more like Jesus" coming from the pulpits, we can rest assured that we Jesus has already accomplished this long ago. How do you tell one who already has Christ to be more like Him? Yet we hear it from pulpit pounders weekly. At times we may be like that apostle Thomas who struggled so hard to believe that His Lord had indeed risen from the dead. Not seeing Him, we do not believe in His truth.
25The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20: 25 - 29 NKJV
Indeed, there has been many a time where I have felt like Thomas, in doubt of my saviors presence in my own life. Of course, in my heart I knew better. Thomas himself knew better, for he had shared his life with Jesus for a period of time as Christ taught and shared with his disciples. More than just teaching, Jesus shared His life with these men. Without a doubt, Thomas knew who Jesus was. Yet when those times come upon us, we all too often step back and ask, "Where are you, Lord?" We already know that answer my friends. He who has promised to never leave us is within us. He who loved us first despite the sin condition we were born into. So, as I endured another valley this week, I again found myself faced with that same old question. Where are you, Lord? Don't you see I'm hurting, Jesus? Of course, these days it doesn't take me long to step back and see the foolishness of this train of thought. I cannot claim that Jesus is powerless to overcome whatever it is I am facing just as He is not powerless to walk with me each and every day through good and bad. As Dennis has often reminded me, when times like these come about, our question should not be, "where are you, God?" Instead, we should be asking ourselves, "What is it that you're doing through me, God?" I find that far more reassuring than trying to compel Jesus to come and help me.
~Scott~
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