The 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." And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" Then 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." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus 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
I was listening to the comments of a few well known Christian pastors recently when the topic turned to the upcoming elections. Now, I guess I should have known better and turned the channel, but I was genuinely curious of how they saw this event. One pulpit pounder in particular expressed the comment that if he were not a Christian he would question the existence of a God who would allow such a man as Donald Trump. Really? I suppose that you would question a God who would allow a tyrant such as Hitler as well? The issue I take with this line of thinking is that when we enter into it we are dwelling in something which is out of our pay grade. How are we to know what Gods ultimate purpose is? Indeed, we could certainly ask Him, but more on that in a bit. The point is, there have been countless events, leaders and circumstances which I have witnessed in my lifetime which defy our human realization. These are circumstances I can look upon and simply admit...yes...that's God. There was a saying among Christians not so long ago when we were confronted with such situations. Whenever we were confronted with something we couldn't explain...we'd call it a "God thing." I recall a conversation with a coworker years ago as he explained what he saw as a miracle of his sons recovery from a serious illness. As he described it, it was a total "God thing." I guess my first question to him should have been...why did you doubt? That was the question Jesus asked of Peter when He rescued His disciple from the waves. After all, Peter was the one who asked Jesus to prove Himself by having him walk to Him across the water. Nice move Pete. To his own amazement, Peter walked on the waves as Jesus was. Then doubt crept in. Peter, seeing the waves crashing around him, lost focus and began to sink. I would have asked the same question...Peter, dude, why did you doubt? Why do we doubt?
But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Matthew 14: 30 - 31 NKJV
It's a question that has been asked for centuries. Why did you doubt? We know why Peter doubted his ability to walk on the sea, scripture tells us that he became suddenly afraid of all that was going on around him. Did Jesus doubt that Peter could do it? No. Jesus was the one who called to Peter to come to him. Not only did Peter doubt the existence of his Lord, but the ability of Jesus to have him walk on the sea. Not a good day for Peter. I will say that I've been there in Peters shoes more than a few times. When the chaos of everyday life has caused me to doubt whether I will experience a "God thing" in my life. Yes, in my own heart I know that God is able to do all things, but somehow there come moments where I somehow think that God is somehow limited by what I see around me. I'll call these "Peter moments." In my defense, these moments were more common in my baby Christian days than they are today. It's not that I've matured all that much, but that I've come to realize more of who Jesus is. I don't look upon Jesus as the fulfiller of needs and desires, but as a intimate part of who I am. The apostle Paul spoke to our identity in Christ in Galatians. It is Christ who now lives in us {Galatians 2:20}. Imagine that, all that we do, think and feel, we share as Jesus. So, in answer to my previous point, how is it that we can know the thoughts of God? Well, we can ask Him. For if we share our life and experiences with Christ Jesus who lives in us, then we also share a intimate connection with God...who also lives in us. We all will eventually come across those moments where we fail to understand life. However, we can always speak with our heavenly Father for answers to our questions. If we believe and do not doubt.
~Scott~
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