The Delicate Balance

Just about everyone remembers or knows about the Apostle Thomas. You recall he had been absent when Jesus had reappeared to some of His disciples after His resurrection as recorded in John 20:24-29 NASB:

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

It’s that last statement that Jesus said in this Scripture, that applies to those of us who see Jesus for who He is and trust in Him and have not seen Him. And for sure, it’s not that we don’t want to see Jesus, but that is not the call that we have been individually given. 

Because we are physical creatures that see, touch, hear, taste and smell, virtually all of the various inputs that our basic senses receive are associated with these sensor abilities. There are others, but we’ll stick with the basics. And of course, all of these inputs feed into our mind and we use them to evaluate the world around us. 

Evaluating the world around us or making sense of all that we see, hear and experience can be a difficult and confusing task, because of all the complexities involved with so many things, including of course, ourselves. My wife and I were talking the other day about some of the things we subjected each other to, when we first got married. To be honest with you, I have a really hard time understanding how my mind actually worked away back then. The word “clueless” easily comes to mind. My wife and I are both now 75 years old. The journey has been insightful to say the least. My understanding about things like love, value, contentment, compassion, forgiveness, joy and peace have changed dramatically over the years. I find it is kind of strange that just as I “begin” to comprehend the complexities of so many things around me, including myself, and especially our Lord, that this journey we have been on is coming to an end. And I am also mindful that my wife and I are among the fortunate ones, because not everyone gets to where we have come and learned what we have learned. And the truly scary part is that we both acknowledge that we’ve only just barely scratched the surface. 

Another word that plays an awful big part in our lives is the word “grace”. Grace is unmerited favour, it’s a gift that has been given to us that we haven’t earned. I could write a book about the “unmerited” category. God’s Word tells us that the heart is deceitfully wicked and who can know it. (Jeremiah 17:9). I can vouch for that. And in the end, it all boils down to two facts that just never change. God tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). And of course, that is where Jesus, the Son of God, shines like no other. Jesus breaks it down for us, helps us to understand, and then, offers the solution, which is Himself. This is the ultimate act of love, the obedience of the Son, laying down His life for us so that we might be at one with our Heavenly Father. And the promise of the demonstrated resurrection is our hope, 

In John 14:18-20 Jesus tells us: “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.” “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” That is the promise of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit within us to guide us on our journey. His life literally then begins to live in us, via the new birth, as we start our journey with Him and He orders our steps as we yield to His direction. Our unseen guide within, who gently guides and directs and witnesses to the glory of God and His Son. 

Being a disciple of Jesus is kind of like being in two realities at the same time. The one that we see and the one that we don’t see. But like so many things in life that we are exposed to, the values are the exact opposition of what one would expect. That which we see now is temporary and that which we don’t see is eternal. That can be hard to grasp but the words that Jesus spoke, the things that He did, the realities that He showed us, confirm the truth that He is. And the end result is that the delicate balance does need to be tilted towards that which He showed us, versus that which we see now. And Jesus tells us that when we do that, when we truly believe in Him, we are indeed blessed.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!