"Doubt"

 "The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20:25 KJV)

  ""So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. And even if I summoned him and he responded, I'm not sure he would listen to me. For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows. If it's a question of strength, he's the strong one. If it's a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court? Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked."" (Job 9:14-20 NLT)

 I have said it before, and will say it again: "I believe the only question Jesus will ask, when I stand before Him, will be: "Did you believe that I loved you?"" That might not seem too hard of a question to answer, depending on the journey you might have had, and the way you might have felt you were treated. But if you really wanted to examine things from His point of view, you might then feel blessed to have been able to share in His suffering, as we ought to do! 

 The Scripture above from Job, although Job does not doubt God's existence, (neither did Thomas,) he did doubt God's care and concern about his life! We have no idea what was going on in Thomas' heart; as far as we can tell, he might have just felt betrayed from his own anticipations of what should have happened, not considering the truth of what actually happened. 

 Isn't that where we see Job, as he wonders how God could allow this, knowing full well He has the power to stop it, yet feeling as though God really doesn't care what he thinks or feels, because He doesn't care! If only Job knew God's heart for him, how much He was for him, and how much He defended him, knowing what the end would be, from the beginning! 

 Yesterday evening, as I was driving home, I heard a message which caused me to fire back at the radio, "That is not so!" I usually don't do that, unless the message speaks against God's nature or His abilities to comprehend what He allows to happen or knows to be the way things will be. This message involved the question of friendship with others; and the example was given about Herod and Pilate becoming friends; that their friendship allowed and expedited the death of Jesus. And, then he added, "That was surely not God's doing!"

 There are some things we just need to get right! Much like the commercial for "Pre-Born," where the announcer say, "God sees the life the child, seeing what could have had," as if God doesn't know the child will be aborted! The whole point of the Holy Scriptures, is that God is the Author and Finisher of all that was, is, and ever will be! There is nothing that He does not know! There is nothing that He has no control over or cannot do! He is still on the Throne!  

 As far as the whole thing with Herod and Pilate: the Father wanted His Son to be crucified: that was the whole reason that He came! Anything that would bring that event about, was all His plan and for His purpose! Even the Jews that were pressing for it to happen, they really did not know what they were doing; they just hated Jesus! 

 As I was saying, Thomas was probably the lone true believer, who really did believe that Jesus was God! He felt betrayed because of the hope he had in a wrong conclusion; as if Jesus could not be killed, because of who He was! Not really knowing the truth, he needed real proof; to put his finger in the holes of His hands and thrust his fist in His side! 

 We cannot see the whole picture! The entire story is like a giant masterpiece canvas which God has been painting, and we are on it! Imagine how that looks, if you were a dot on the canvas, how much of the painting could you see? You would only see that which was right beside you; other than that, you would be clueless to everything else!

 The whole point about doubt, is not that there is anything wrong with it, but that it allows us to make a choice! When we have doubt, we are allowed to compare the differences; the good and the bad, the right and the wrong! C. S. Lewis, who was disillusioned about Christianity as a youth, most likely because his mother died when he was 10, re-embraced it later, and became a champion for Christ! 

 Here are certain quotes where they are brought on by doubt: "The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us." "Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks improbable; but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable." "I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing is cannot be is moderately important." "Nothing is yet in its true form." 

 There are reasons that God has given us choices, as we are made to choose to love Him! It must be something that we are familiar with, the yes and the no, so we make the commitment to love Him, regardless of the yes or the no...

"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes - the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."" (Romans 1:16-17 NLT)