John 20:24-28
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
There will come a time in our walk of faith where we will experience chaos wherein God seems not making any sense to us at all. We think that for a longer period of time that we are serving God, we end up broken, empty, and living in sin(s). We thought that for many days we are working in His vineyard - churches, missions, crusades, and charities; we end up spiritually disturbed.
This is of no difference to the experiences of the first disciples who actually walk with God, not just spiritually but also physically. They are together in every place where Jesus was and experiencing His power and might for all the miracles and wonders He was performing. They are a living witnesses of the Messiah. Indeed, they declared and proclaimed him as the Son of God too. But all these had changed when Jesus suffered from the hands of Jews and He died on the cross.
They can’t understand yet this turn of events for their spirit are crushingly disturbed. Moreover, to hear from the whole group of mourning fellows that Jesus who died and buried is now alive. This add more to the confusion in the life of Thomas, if this is something real, as he is still clouded with doubts either concerning that disciples are trying to convince themselves that Jesus is alive or he is being encouraged with lies. Whatever the reasons are, clouded minds are darkened causing doubts.
The cure is not to make the fantasy to be real. If so, Jesus will not tell us that “Blessed are those who have not seen me yet have believed” (John 30:29b). The cure is what He is giving to the disciples in His greetings - “Peace be with you”. Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and His peace surpasses all the understanding (Phil 4:6) and will guard our hearts and minds which are being clouded with all the adversaries in our walk of faith.
Wherever you are in your journey of faith, God is continuously greeting you with Peace in every door of opportunity to experience His Mercy and Love. The real recognition of God’s presence in our lives is not always the visible one, more often, we must recognise God from within ourselves, in our hearts and in our minds which are protected and guided by breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation, respectively. Peace is always for both, for our hearts and our minds; either one is disturbed, will shake your trust and faith to our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ!
Let us not just recognise Jesus, but let Jesus be truly recognised in our lives as well.
God bless you all!
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