Ordinary Time

Pause

What does it take to trust? Sometimes it’s experience over time; sometimes it’s a deeply moving event that takes place in a single moment.

To believe in God and in Christ revealed through Jesus, it sometimes takes an act of the will and a commitment to remain true to your faith.

Through it all God remains constant – at your side and within your heart. Trust that to be true in these next few quiet moments.

Listen

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

John 20:24–25

Think

Some things you just have to experience yourself. Whether it’s driving for the first time, asking someone to prom, or feeding a newborn baby, stories aren’t enough. You can’t outsource those kinds of moments; you need to experience them yourself.

Thomas gets that. Everyone around him is jumping for joy, sharing their stories about “that time when Jesus showed up.” Their stories are full of passion and hope, yet words alone are not enough for Thomas. He is not willing to settle for someone else’s experience with Jesus. Thomas wants his own.

Why settle today for someone’s hand-me-down encounter with God? Through Jesus Christ, you can have more than your pastor’s or grandmother’s or friend’s faith. You get your own.

Take a lesson from Thomas: make your faith your own. You might just discover what he did.

Jesus dropped by.

John Woods

Pray

Personal God, who invites us to an intimate relationship, may I embrace a faith that is my own so that I might notice when you show up in my path. Amen.

Go

Be true now in what you hold to be trustworthy;
Be honest now also when you are unsure.

In any and every case, Jesus remains
Close and steadfast with an enduring love,
A love that always shows up.