11 April 2005 Devotion for Today “Handling Doubts Again” John 20:28-29
The story is told about Farmer Joe who decided his injuries from an accident were serious enough to take the trucking company (responsible for the accident) to court. In court, the trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe. "Didn’t you say, at the scene of the accident, ’I’m fine’?," questioned the lawyer.
Farmer Joe said, "Well I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road..." The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, "I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie."
Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, "Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, "Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?"
It was then that I said, "I’m fine."
Today, no need to say or lie “I’m fine”. We are not fine. The fact is, that many of us have been touched by doubt or some assault has been made upon our faith enough to shake us. To make things worse, we look at the casualties of doubt all around us. Sometimes its Christians who have been the cause of some of those casualties and when some of them come up to us we are tempted to say what Farmer Joe said. We are dealing again with our doubts and last week we dealt with the first four reasons and remedies for those doubts. We are going to look at the rest this week.
There are a lot of doubters in our society today who are questioning God because they have a wounded heart. Its not that they don’t have faith. But its because they have had faith and have become extremely disappointed. They are disillusioned. Perhaps they have been let down by another Christian or by a church leader that they trusted. When you’ve been hurt by someone you trust, it is easier to choose the security of doubt over the risk of facing further disappointment. Wounded hearts tend to guard themselves against future hurts and we can all understand that. But in doing that, they can create a wall that keeps them from experiencing the security of God’s love.
Jesus’ disciples reacted to the resurrection of Jesus with wounded hearts. Thomas in particular. They deeply loved Jesus with all their hearts, but then he was killed and ripped away from their lives and their hearts were deeply hurt by that. Then when Jesus reappeared after his death, they struggled to believe it, I think in part because they were afraid to love him again for fear of future hurt. It seemed too good to be true that Jesus was back with them again. And they were hesitating to immediately embrace the risen Lord.
The Scriptures say in John 20: 28And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Jesus said to him, "Thomas,[d] because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
People who have been wounded need us to patiently regain their trust. Over time, being a consistent example in front of them and continually loving and accepting them will earn their respect and trust again and open the door for them to experience a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the kind of mercy Jesus extended to Thomas when He appeared. When you look at Thomas you will see that it only took a moment for him to look into the eyes of Jesus- not just at His hands- to convince Him to say these words, “My Lord, and my God.” Thomas was the only disciple we have on record ever saying that Jesus was God. Have a blessed day!
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net
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