I just don’t know.
I just wonder if everything you are saying, if all of what you are telling me is really true.
I’m not saying I don’t believe you, and it’s okay that you believe, but I just don’t know?
I believe in my own strength, my own abilities, and I am doing fine.  Really.
Don’t worry about me.
Have you ever faced these types of comments from those who do not yet believe in God?
OR
Have we ever (even) said those same words to others, before we believed?
Today is a perfect moment to look at a man, a person, flesh and blood…….a man just like us.
How can a grown man……..
A man……….Who was chosen to follow,
A man……….Who walked the same path,
A man……….Who participated in His mission,
A man……….Who believed,
A man……….Who really believed,….
How could he (suddenly) not be sure?
And how could he (now) need proof, evidence, to prove that his eyes were really seeing what his heart was telling Him, even when his head seemed to be screaming,  “How could this be?”
How could he believe what was standing right in front of him?
Thomas was a man, plain and simple.
Thomas had believed and followed Jesus for nearly three years.
Thomas had sat with Jesus at the table and had shared a last supper with Him.
Then Thomas had watched as Jesus was arrested, and he had stood there as the marred body of Jesus (all caused from the hours of torture to Jesus’ body) passed by him as Jesus had carried His cross up Calvary’s hill.
Thomas had even heard the angry mob’s shouts, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him.”
Thomas had probably even heard the pounding of the nails.
Thomas may have run and hid, fearing the mob might come for him, for Jesus’ disciples, next.
Truly, Thomas had watched the horrific death and had seen Jesus hang upon the cross; he had watched Jesus die.
Truly, Thomas saw all the horrific events with his own eyes.
Thomas was a man, plain and simple….a person, a flesh and blood man, just like us.
And Now, three days later, three days AFTER JESUS DIED AND WAS BURIED, some of the other disciples were saying Jesus was alive, but Thomas had not been present when they saw the resurrected LORD.   Thomas wanted to believe that what Jesus had said before His death was true, but Thomas was just not sure.
Thomas knew what Jesus had taught, and Thomas wanted to believe it was true….needed to believe it was true!
But Thomas also knew what his eyes saw, and he heard what his head was telling him.
Thomas doubted.
One of the disciples (John), inspired by God’s Holy Spirit after those events, wrote these words,  “So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the LORD!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe”  (John 20: 25).

• Did Thomas doubt Jesus was the Messiah?   NO, HE DID NOT DOUBT THAT TRUTH.
• Did Thomas doubt Jesus was the Son of God?   NO, HE DID NOT DOUBT THAT JESUS CAME AS THE SAVIOR, AS GOD IN THE FLESH.
• Did Thomas doubt Jesus was alive?   YES, MAYBE BECAUSE THOMAS HAD SEEN WITH HIS OWN EYES THE HORRIBLE DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS.

Grief causes us to skew everything, YES, our emotions, even our faith.
Guilt skews our belief.
Guilt skews our thinking, our knowing, our believing…..because the devil likes to tell us to question what we first thought, what we first believed.  Yes, the devil wants nothing more than to keep us confused and just not sure.
Thomas experienced both grief and guilt because the last three days (the days SINCE Jesus died) had been so hard, so horribly difficult.    Thomas just needed some proof, some evidence, some clarity.
He remembered what Jesus had said before His crucifixion, but for now, (in that moment) Thomas doubted.
Some people question the truth of God.  Some people question the existence of the Messiah.   Some just listen to their head thoughts, trust what they see with their eyes, and question what they cannot really see.  People are People are People are People.
HERE’S A TRUTH.   EVERYONE EXISTS IN THAT SAME PLACE OF DOUBT DURING SOMETIME IN LIFE.
YES, EVERYONE. 
Seeing is believing, yes, but faith asks us to believe what we cannot always see.   I cannot see love, but I can sense the power of love.
The touch of God is evidence everyone needs.   God’s touch reveals with clarity that He Is Who He Says He IS!!!
Jesus came into Thomas’ presence eight days later, and Thomas recognized Him.  Thomas needed the touch of God for Thomas to believe, to see, to remember, and to realize that Jesus Really Was Resurrected from the Dead. 
“Then He [JESUS] said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;  and reach here your hand and put it into My side;  and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My LORD and my God!”  (John 20:  27-28).
Today…..Do not be unbelieving.
Today…..Reach with your hand.
Today…..Feel the touch of Christ Jesus. 
Today…..Hear Jesus say to each one of us,………“Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20: 27).