Doubt is natural!

Well good morning and may God bless you and yours today on Labor Day. I was working on a paper and the question I had to answer was: What is the essential ministry of the church today? My response included this scripture; Matthew 28:16-20, “¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.¹⁷ When they saw Him they worshipped Him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. For those who may read this and not know what this is it is called the Great Commission. Jesus told the disciples this just before He ascended back to heaven. But as I read it and thought about my answer there is one part that sticks out. Vs.17 “When they saw Him they worshipped Him: but some doubted.” You know I know for some people a belief in God is extremely hard to accept. But they were standing there talking to a man that you watched for three and a half years work amazing miracles; you saw him hung on a cross and die just 43 days earlier. He had been with them for 40 days in His resurrected form. But they still had doubt in their hearts. I had to look in the scripture and every gospel gives account of their fear and doubt but the one I stopped on was John 20:24-29, “²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” ²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though 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; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That last verse is for us. I can understand the doubt that sometimes creeps into our belief if those who walked with Jesus could still have it. But you know I have come to understand God still shows Himself to us today. He shows us His glory in the world he has created, the works that he is still doing and His Word that we have available for our equipping and edification (personal and spiritual growth). To be honest the problem is we do not desire a closer walk with Him. When we desire to grow through time spent in Bible study, fellowship and worship we will come to seek after God more; then we will truly believe. Doubt is human nature; belief is something that comes from a personal relationship with God. Deuteronomy 4:29, “But if from there you seek, the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” We must be seeking after God if we desire to not have doubt in our lives. If we doubt that he is able to answer our prayers. Than why would we even take the time to pray? We must believe and trust on the Lord; He has promised to be with us till the end of the age. Have a blessed and wonderful time with your family today.