Are you a doubter?

The doubter
questions
wants clear answers
wants to be sure
not gullible,
not deceived
not drawn into
a fellowship filled with enthusiasm
for the wrong reason

Thomas,
one of Jesus' disciples,
a doubter.
We too
pass through, suffer from
this dilemma

Thomas responds,
"Unless I see in His hands 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." (John 20:25)

Woe to him
to others too
to us
to not believe
simply because we have not seen,
have not witnessed

Where is your faith!?
For Jesus has said
even faith as small as a mustard seed
can move mountains. (see Matthew 17:20)

IF
to believe
we must see
with our very own eyes
and hear
with our very own ears

There is much of life
to be missed
that has already been missed

The doubting can believe
Thomas did
but only because he saw
what he needed to see
to believe.

Jesus says to us all,
"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29a)

Where is your faith?

If your mind is open to God and what His word has to say to you, you will find that "with God all things are possible." Just like it says in Matthew 19:26. We have these words framed on our dining room wall. I see it everyday. I read it everyday. Yet as I mentioned yesterday, brain connection is not always present. It is good that God does not give up on me. For if He did ... I am definitely very glad for Jesus' presence in my life.

I wish I could just let go and let God at every stage. I wish my faith in Him was stronger, bigger, ALWAYS present, never questioning. But alas, we are human. And as such, we think and consider and reconsider and wonder, when perhaps what we should do is ask God to show us the way He would have us go.

Rely on Him, seek guidance for everything from Him through prayer. Prayer is the answer. But in prayer, we must listen for His response and obey.

We can't just assume because we have prayed for a disease or illness to be healed, God will instantaneously remove it. No. He may and He may not. We can pray for healing, but I think too we need to pray for guidance in its midst. What am I to learn, do I go to another doctor, do I stop with the round of doctor visits, am I to wait, when is waiting too long. So many questions.

And when we pray, we need to believe God hears us. "And Jesus said, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' " (Mark 9:23)

When we doubt - whether it be doubting the power of prayer or doubting He hears, perhaps we should question just where we are in our walk -- are we truly one of His?

Prayer is the voice of faith.

A moment of prayer ....
Lord, show me how to make the money we have available last us till payday. Lord, enable the money needed for our medical bills to be paid. Lord, show me how to utilize faith in the workplace. Lord, enable me to teach another in the workplace and bring me patience while I am about it. Lord, guard my mouth - what I put in and what comes out. Lord, show me how to be pleasing to you. In your name I pray.

Faith looks across the storm -- it does not doubt
or stop to look at clouds and things without.
Faith does not question why
when all His ways are hard to understand,
but trusts and prays.