If one reads the newspaper, watches news stories, or browses the news pages on the Internet, you can find even more reasons to doubt the existence of a good, powerful, just and fair God. You might find articles on those who have never consumed a drop of alcohol dying at the hands of drunk drivers, earthquakes and other natural calamities wiping out entire neighborhoods and towns with no advance
warning, innocent people being murdered, babies arriving with debilitating birth defects...get the picture? It isn’t pretty, is it?

Believe it or not, it is normal to have doubts. (Pause) As you will find in the story of Thomas, it is even OK to have doubts. Doubts can sometimes be described as ‘ants in the pants of faith’ … and sometimes they can keep us going. However, there are times when doubts can stop us cold in our tracks and bring our faith journey to a complete halt, or at least force us to drop out, either for a short spell, or on a permanent basis. It is as though we’ve hit a wall. (Pause) The truth about doubts is this … “What matters is what we do with our doubts.” Our doubts can be negative; or we can turn them around and make them positive.

If you look at our scripture this morning, you will find that it takes place after Christ had risen from the grave. The disciples, all with the exception of Thomas, had met together and Jesus Christ had appeared to them. Jesus spoke with them and left. When the disciples told Thomas what happened, he said that unless he could touch the place where the nails had been placed in Jesus’ hands and the place where the spear had pierced his side he would not believe. Thomas demanded proof. Eight days later, Jesus reappeared to the disciples and this time Thomas was with them. When Thomas encountered the risen Lord, his life was transformed. When Jesus Christ offered to allow him to touch the wounds and believe, his doubts were laid to rest. Like many of the other disciples, he had believed from the beginning. But like his comrades, his belief was in something other than what Jesus taught. What began as misguided belief, on this day became True Faith. (Pause)

If you read the history of the early church, you will find that on this day Thomas was changed forever. The sad truth is that history remembers him as a ‘doubting Thomas,’ not Thomas the missionary. After the day he met Christ again, he became one of the strong witnesses for the Lord who took to heart the last words of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. He left town and took the gospel to Parthia, and then on to India. Christians in the country of Malibar claim that Thomas founded their church and there is no reason to doubt that claim. (Pause) He was eventually martyred for his beliefs in the city of Madras in India.

The truth of this story is that Thomas had hit his wall. His messiah was gone. All that he held true was gone. Yet with this one event, he made it past this point. It appears that his doubt was all that was holding him back. In our lives, are we not much the same way? As Christians, do we not want to ‘spread the word,’ ‘preach the Gospel,’ or help to ‘make disciples of man?’ Yet like Thomas, we often hit our personal walls. For some that wall could be the loss of a loved one that makes us think “how could there be a God if this is happening”, for others the fact that someone dear to you is moving far away may lead us into thinking “how could this be good if it hurts so much, God surely can’t want this to happen”, and for many (Thomas included) it can simply be a fear of the unknown.

For example, in the book “When the Last Leaf Falls,” it tells the story of a boy who had come of age. He became the minister of the church which his father had just retired from. During his first sermon, he spoke of all the ‘mighty deeds’ that would begin to happen. Due to his fear of not being accepted, he really coated the 1^st sermon. Yet in the middle of this power packed message, he heard the words: “Daddy, icky-pooh … Icky-pooh, Daddy. Icky-pooh.” In plain site of the entire church, Daddy saw his little daughter who had escaped from the nursery walking up to the platform from which he was speaking with her dirty diaper for him to help her with. He concluded telling this story by saying “Thus ended my first sermon.” He went on to tell of how that day he learned more about real strengths and real weaknesses. Like Thomas, he hit his wall and hard. But after this experience, both he and the church he served began to grow.

We can be the same way. If we just face our doubts and truly trust God … we too can do great things. We can become positive servants of God. But most importantly, we can pass that wall … that great point … live with the assurance which came from Jesus Christ. The assurance that we can ‘have life, and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10b). The greatest question is ‘how can we do this?’ The answer is not as simple as the question. Truthfully, it is a personal issue. When I hit my walls, I often just stop!!! I take time to slow down; although slowing down for me is reading scripture, praying, and playing music. For others, it could simply be slowing down and spending some ‘quiet time.’ Whatever our personal techniques, it all comes down to spending some honest time with God. If we pray and listen, we will feel God’s presence in our lives. We may not always understand why this happens now? Or like Ian, why have you not ‘fixed everything?’ (Pause) As long as we are willing to trust that God is in control, we can also find comfort in the fact that one day God will make everything alright! This is the eternal promise we were given thru Jesus Christ. The good news is that this promise has no expiration date … this fact we need never doubt.