John 20:24-25

"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."
John 20:24-25


I think it is probably very natural and very human for us to doubt things that we've never experienced or seen for ourselves. No matter how well Thomas knew Christ, he somehow didn't really believe somewhere deep down that he could just return to life and come back to them. Then eight days later, when he got a chance to see for himself, he believed. Only eight days... but imagine what those eight days would have been like, had he believed. We do the same thing, often. We doubt the power Christ has to heal us, for instance, and so we stay broken. We doubt the power that Christ has to cleanse us... to change us... to change the world. Like Thomas, God offers us evidences of his power in our lives. Sometimes it takes us a while, but we eventually realize in each case that God can help us do things that would be impossible alone. Imagine though, what would happen if we believed right away... how much happier we'd be... just like Thomas, but in our case, the transformation of many more than eight days. Today, let's try to go just a little further with our trust and belief... and turn that time when we're waiting to see the Savior touch our lives into a time of joy and anticipation rather than a time of mourning and doubt. Jesus *is* risen... and he *will* heal us and help us.