Doubting Thomas, Anyone?
[The following is an excerpt from the upcoming FMU Success Prep Study Guide, TOP10 Marriage Tips for Smart Singles: Part 1]
It’s kind of funny, when you think about it. Christian faith begins with “trusting Jesus for salvation,” but once that’s done many of us shake hands with our “spiritual insurer” (maybe we give him a bear hug) and then we go elsewhere to insure the other aspects of our life (car, job, health, relationships, marital prospects).
How can we say we trust God for something as awesome as the eternal salvation of our souls, but not trust him with something as temporary as our next job assignment or even something like marriage? Surely your future marriage isn’t as big a deal as your salvation! If God can secure the latter, the former should be a lock. Conversely, if I can’t trust him to guide me into marriage (and in my marriage), can I really trust him to guide me to heaven?
What’s not so funny is that lack of trust (or faith) is a HUGE barrier to intimacy with God and other people (can you see how this might affect your future marriage?).
The starting point to learning this kind of trust is first recognizing whether you struggle with trusting God in the first place. Not every spiritual doubter is as obvious to pick out as "Doubting Thomas", who wouldn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead until he had stuck his finger in the holes in Jesus’ hands and side.
If you don’t think trusting God is problem for you, how do you feel about your current status of singleness? Do you feel cheated, forgotten or punished unfairly?
If you feel like you’re getting the proverbial short end of the metaphorical stick when it comes to relationships, then you have to face it. You doubt God. Fortunately, that’s not the unforgivable sin. In fact, every man of faith in scripture doubted God from time to time, but they eventually had to repent and ask God to help them trust him. You will too.
As a matter of fact, Thomas wasn’t actually the only doubter among the remaining 11 disciples. In Mark 16:11, the word says that when Mary Magdalene had seen Jesus, none of the disciples believed her. The following verses go on to say that Jesus appeared to two others (Luke tells us they were on the road to a town called Emmaus), but no one believed them either. None of the eleven disciples believed until they saw Jesus for themselves. Thomas just happened to be the last one to finally see him.
If you ask me, Thomas should have been called Honest Thomas, because he was simply honest about his doubt. I want to encourage you to be honest about your doubt too. Like the father of the boy with an unclean spirit declared, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 (ESV)).
[Is trusting God is a problem for you? "TOP10 Marriage Tips For Smart Singles: Part 1" will give you a couple tests to help you discern where you’re at. Then we'll give you handles on how to get to where you want to be.]
MJ
It’s kind of funny, when you think about it. Christian faith begins with “trusting Jesus for salvation,” but once that’s done many of us shake hands with our “spiritual insurer” (maybe we give him a bear hug) and then we go elsewhere to insure the other aspects of our life (car, job, health, relationships, marital prospects).
How can we say we trust God for something as awesome as the eternal salvation of our souls, but not trust him with something as temporary as our next job assignment or even something like marriage? Surely your future marriage isn’t as big a deal as your salvation! If God can secure the latter, the former should be a lock. Conversely, if I can’t trust him to guide me into marriage (and in my marriage), can I really trust him to guide me to heaven?
What’s not so funny is that lack of trust (or faith) is a HUGE barrier to intimacy with God and other people (can you see how this might affect your future marriage?).
The starting point to learning this kind of trust is first recognizing whether you struggle with trusting God in the first place. Not every spiritual doubter is as obvious to pick out as "Doubting Thomas", who wouldn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead until he had stuck his finger in the holes in Jesus’ hands and side.
If you don’t think trusting God is problem for you, how do you feel about your current status of singleness? Do you feel cheated, forgotten or punished unfairly?
If you feel like you’re getting the proverbial short end of the metaphorical stick when it comes to relationships, then you have to face it. You doubt God. Fortunately, that’s not the unforgivable sin. In fact, every man of faith in scripture doubted God from time to time, but they eventually had to repent and ask God to help them trust him. You will too.
As a matter of fact, Thomas wasn’t actually the only doubter among the remaining 11 disciples. In Mark 16:11, the word says that when Mary Magdalene had seen Jesus, none of the disciples believed her. The following verses go on to say that Jesus appeared to two others (Luke tells us they were on the road to a town called Emmaus), but no one believed them either. None of the eleven disciples believed until they saw Jesus for themselves. Thomas just happened to be the last one to finally see him.
If you ask me, Thomas should have been called Honest Thomas, because he was simply honest about his doubt. I want to encourage you to be honest about your doubt too. Like the father of the boy with an unclean spirit declared, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 (ESV)).
[Is trusting God is a problem for you? "TOP10 Marriage Tips For Smart Singles: Part 1" will give you a couple tests to help you discern where you’re at. Then we'll give you handles on how to get to where you want to be.]
MJ
posted by Future Marriage University at
10:54 AM
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