Perception can be a funny thing. Since I’m in bed all day, I rarely know what the weather is like. I see through my windows that the sun is shining, the trees are barely moving, “It must be a nice, warm spring day,” I think. Until a visitor shows up… wearing a down jacket and scarf, and I realize it’s actually quite cold. Or like yesterday when it was cloudy and the trees were moving back and forth, so I thought it must be cold and windy. Then my dad comes over and says its 60 degrees out! Good thing I’m not a meteorologist.

Sometimes what we see with our eyes can be deceiving, yet other times it can verify the truth. When Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to the disciples, Thomas wasn’t there. The disciples told Thomas “Jesus is alive!” but Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe” (John 20:25).

Eight days later Jesus came back to the disciples and this time Thomas was there. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Busted! Jesus knew what Thomas had said and He came back to let Thomas see Him for himself. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Caught red-handed, an awkward moment, you didn’t think the person you were gossiping about would ever know you said that…

But Jesus didn’t come to Thomas to ridicule him for not believing, or to rub it in Thomas’s face that He really was alive. Instead Jesus gave Thomas the opportunity to believe.

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Thomas gets a bad reputation for doubting. But here he sees Jesus and believes. Look back at verse 25 – Thomas says he won’t believe unless he puts his fingers into Jesus’s nail marks. But once he sees Jesus he believes. No extra proof necessary.

If you are looking for Jesus to show up in your life, believe He will. If you are wondering if He really exists, seek Him with all your heart and you will find Him. If you are waiting on a miracle, ask Him and believe He will do it. But know that He might show up in a different way than you expect. You may have to walk through some storms before you get to your miracle. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Bible story is found in John 20:25-29