Do We Believe What We See or
See What We Believe?

 So often we hear people say,

" I'll believe it when I see it."

     The Gospel of John tells us the disciple Thomas was like this. When they told Him that Jesus was alive, his response was,

"Unless I see in His hand the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

     Thomas was determined that he would not believe even though he had walked with Jesus, witnessed the miracles that Jesus performed and had been told by Jesus Himself, that He would rise from the dead. Yet having experienced all of this he made a strong-willed statement saying he would not believe unless he saw it with his own eyes and touch Jesus with his own hands.

     When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He made it a point to talk with Thomas. He said,

"reach your finger here, and look at My hands, and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing,"

     Jesus continued speaking to him with these words,

"Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

     Jesus did not condemn Thomas for doubting, but encouraged him to be believe, and more than that He said how blessed we would be for believing even though we do not see Him. We believe by faith that HE was, HE is and HE always will be.

     There is a great story of faith found in 2nd Kings the fourth chapter. We read about a woman who opened her home to the prophet Elisha and in return God blessed her with a child. One day the child died in her arms and instead of getting hysterical she simply laid the child on Elisha's bed and went to seek him. On her way her husband asked why she was going and all she responded was:

"It is well."

     She never mentioned their son had just died, she just went on her way. When she met up with Elisha's servant Gehazi and was questioned by him she responded with:

"It is well."

     She finally reached Elisha and spoke to him still not mentioning or speaking words of death but only questioned him about the situation. She said she did not ask for the son, but that she did request not to be deceived. Elisha gave a command to his servant and told him to go to the boy, but the mother was insistent that she would not leave Elisha, so he arose and followed her. When he arrived at her home he went up and lay on the child. The Bible tells us that the child became warm, Elisha then returned and walked back and forth in the house and went and stretched himself on the boy again and then the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

     When I read this story I was not only in awe of the power of God, and the faith of Elisha but I was in awe of the woman. Her child died, but she spoke in faith that:

"It is well."

     She did not speak words of doubt and unbelief but went to the one who gave her the promise and questioned him. Her faith was steadfast, not easily shaken and very determined. She was not stopped by what she saw with her eyes, but instead moved by a mother's love to keep what God had given to her.

     We too can walk in this faith. We have Jesus. We do not have to look at the circumstance with our natural eyes, but we can walk in faith the He who has promised is able to keep what we give Him. He is our High Priest, He is our Elisha, He is the One in whom the Bible tells us that all of His promises are yes and amen.

     I have to be honest, I don't know if one of my children died in my arms that I could lay him down and go to Jesus, but I believe in my heart that if I could do it Jesus would honor it.

     He is faithful and our faith pleases Him. I may never face that specific situation but I do face situations every day that sometimes I only believe what I see, but other times refuse to believe what I see and choose to see what I believe. As Jesus told Thomas, so do I desire, to be believing and not unbelieving.

     Faith is a choice we make every day, and I hope that we will all become people of God who can say:

"I'm seeing because I'm believing in Him."

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