Maybe You Should Doubt God

Thousands of speakers and preachers have talked about the story of Thomas or as he is known in many circles "Doubting Thomas."  All the messages are the same, they talk about how Thomas should have had more faith and believed without having to see, and not doubted. Even Jesus told Thomas that "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe"John 20:24-29"Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”  And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”  Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”But think about it, Thomas had a personal relationship with Jesus in human form before He was crucified.  He knew that He was crucified and had finally come to terms with that.  Then his friends (the disciples) tell him that Jesus is alive.  Thomas, obviously didn't want to take their word for it, he wanted to touch and see Jesus before believing.  He had to know for himself! Wouldn't you have?I have known many people that go to church and love the pastor of a church but, as soon as that pastor leaves, they are lost, or even leave the church.  Maybe they don't even go to church if they know he isn't preaching. Many Christians will speak about what their church says on topics, but have not looked into the topic personally.  There is no personal relationship here...its in effect a personal relationship with a church or a pastor instead of with Jesus.God did not create the church as a "middle-man" between you and Him.  He created it for believers to be in community with one another, and to reach the world we live in.  Your personal relationship with Christ should be just that... PERSONAL!So back to Thomas...Can you blame him for wanting to see Jesus?  Thomas had to have something to build that personal relationship off of, other than just believing what someone else said.I encourage you to dig into the life of Jesus, read and understand as much about Him as you can.  Get to a place where like Thomas you can "touch and feel Him."  While its great to be in church and learn from pastors and friends, you need to have a personal relationship that can be your foundation for your life.  When everything crashes around you, or you are stressed out by work or a tragedy in your life, you will know YOUR God and have the confidence and foundation from which to build back off of.So go ahead...doubt all you want.  But don't doubt and do nothing about it.  Just like Thomas, doubt, and then seek out Jesus for yourself to prove His existence.  Just like He did for Thomas, I am confident He will show up in your life and prove Himself!