The story of doubting Thomas is close to my heart. God loves the doubting Thomas’s of this world, they have a special place in His heart! In His love and compassion, Jesus appeared to Thomas. Thomas had a moment of doubt about whether Christ had risen and Jesus came to help him. God wants to help our faith. Jesus congratulated Thomas for believing in Him but added, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Jesus is saying here in effect ‘I’ll help you when you have no faith, but I’m looking for something more in the Kingdom. I’m looking for you to extend your faith before you see anything; faith needs to come first!”
In God’s Kingdom, you give in order to get. You humble yourself in order to be promoted. You go lower in order to get higher. You love those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who despitefully use you. It is a different kind of life in the Kingdom of God! It’s the same with faith. If you believe without seeing anything, you’re sowing a seed of faith, and you touch God’s heart! You walk into His blessing! Faith comes first in the Kingdom of God, it is the currency of heaven.
I remember many years ago I was fishing off the rocks, west of Auckland, New Zealand. There were a number of people there fishing. I was sharing the Gospel with a young man who was there with his father. The young man said to me “If God is real, tell Him to get a really big fish to jump on my line right now!” I said to the young man “Is that your Dad over there?” He said “Yes” I said “Do you boss him around and tell him what to do?” The young man’s faced dropped in shame and he said “No.” He knew I had a point. I began to share how he could have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He was a little more open to the Gospel at that point!
Jesus said in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” God is looking for faith from us. When we pray and ask God for what we need, we need to exercise faith. Faith makes us vulnerable to God, it puts us out on a limb many times. We need to be willing to exercise it. We need to put our faith out there first!
When Jesus taught on prayer with persistence he said “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 8:18) God is looking for faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Now it’s not always easy to have faith. Thomas needed God to come and encourage his faith. God came to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abraham had grown tired from believing God for so long. God came to encourage him.
Maybe that’s you today, maybe you’re feeling tired in faith today, I want to encourage you. Keep extending your faith. Faith always precedes breakthroughs and miracles from heaven. Faith grows and builds the more we use it. It grows when we see God respond to it. It grows when we immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Faith comes first in God’s Kingdom, the more you use it, the more you will please God. The more you use it, the more you will see His miracle intervention in your life.
