Listen

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Matthew 28:16-17

Think

In our passage for today from Matthew, Jesus’ disciples are seeing him for the first time after he was crucified and resurrected. Until now, they’ve only heard stories that he’s not dead, but alive.

As they gaze on him for the first time since witnessing his brutal death, they have mixed reactions. Some worship. Others doubt. How could they not? What a confusing thing to see.

Anne Lamott wrote that, “The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness, and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.”

It’s ok to doubt. It’s not the absence or lack of faith. It is rather noticing and being attentive to the current struggle. Faith does not ignore questions. Instead, it attends to and embraces them. Doubt and questions are necessary and vital parts of faith.

Chad Senuta

Question to Ponder:

What are your doubts helping you to notice, and how might they be leading or calling you to deeper faith?

Pray

O God of my heart and mind, sometimes I have doubts. Let them not overwhelm me but teach me. Let them not push me away but draw me closer to you. Amen.

Go

Go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not.

Go in love, for God’s love alone endures.

And go in peace, for that is God’s gift to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ Jesus.