Overcoming the Fear of Hope

"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 in his side, I will never believe" (John 20:25).

We often label Thomas "the Doubter," but I have often wondered if that was a fair nickname. Surely this one event in his life should not be the defining one. Why don't we call him "Worshiping Thomas" since he also said to Jesus, "My Lord and My God!" If we were fair we would acknowledge that Thomas' response was the natural one. He watched them take his Master away, crucify him, and place him in the grave. Men just don't come back from that kind of thing.
Even as his friends tried to encourage him with the news of Jesus' resurrection, Thomas wouldn't believe. Many would say that Thomas' response was that of a realist. He just took the facts, crunched the numbers, and drew the only logical conclusion. However, when we are tempted to be "realists" we better make sure we are dealing with reality. Resurrection, while difficult for Thomas to accept, was a reality. Thomas knew that Jesus had raised people from the dead. He had witnessed it, but when he was told that Jesus had been raised he doubted. He wasn't crunching all the numbers; he had not collected all the facts.

The Scriptures don't say why Thomas didn't believe Jesus had risen. I choose to believe that it was because of his grief. Often grief is accompanied by bitter despair. Grief can make one cynical, even skeptical. I believe that Thomas' response is the response of the discouraged, the broken-hearted, the bereft. His response demonstrates his fear of hope. If he should let hope ascend in his heart and believe that Jesus was alive, and it be proven untrue, then he would be crushed beyond repair. Yet, without hope, he was already crushed. He took what he thought was the safe road.

But there is no safety in a hopeless road. The trials we face in this life are meant to stir hope in our heart. When I stated that I thought Thomas' response was the natural one, I did not mean that it was a good one. We have a God who can do the impossible. He is a God who can do beyond what we can even imagine. And while many of us are just as afraid to hope as Thomas was, most of us are not as honest about it. Scripture teaches us that God is faithful to his promises. God's faithfulness never changes, it never lags, and it never expires. When we truly rest in this knowledge we find hope kindled. Circumstances which are often beyond our control are never beyond His. Things that occur in our lives that the enemy meant for evil, God means for our good.

The burdens you are enduring right now may have you saying, "Unless I see God do a good thing (like removing this trial) I will never believe." However, we must remember when Scriptures tell us that God is always faithful it does not mean he is faithful to our agenda. God is faithful to his plans and purposes. His plans for us include our salvation, our sanctification, our perseverance, our obedience, and our glorification. His plans are for us to be conformed into the image of His Son. He will faithfully, and without fail, bring his plans to completion. If we are to imitate Thomas, let it be his worshipful attitude, not his skepticism. As God speaks to us through His Word, revealing his nature and character, let us fall down and proclaim, "My Lord and My God." I pray we become those who say, "Until I see . . .I will believe," instead of those who say, "Unless I see . . . I will not believe." For we are waiting for the day when we will see Christ face to face, and until that that day we must press forward in faith.