Caesura: Confidence

---

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

John 20:29 (NIV)

---

Hello, my name is Thomas. Some of them like to call me ‘Doubting’ Thomas but I just prefer Tom. I gained my nickname by being, what I thought was, reasonable. Days had passed since we lost Jesus. You know, the one that was going to save us from our Roman captors. I had heard rumours that Jesus was some-how resurrected. My friends started to tell me “We have seen the Lord!” but I just couldn’t believe them. I had seen with my own eyes the torture on His face, the nails pierce His hands and the life drain from His body! How could this be? My friend’s grief must have led them to see ghosts! In the space of one week we had gone from servants of a King to exiles of the nation. Who could blame me for being a bit sceptical of what they were saying? It was, after-all, impossible! The only person I knew who was capable of restoring life to the dead was himself dead! Having seen what I have seen, I should have never doubted but the reality I saw in front of me was so different to the words they spoke. We were terrified for our lives. All the doors were locked, and we were truly living in fear. Then it happened. He was there. Right there before our eyes. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then He spoke to me. “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop being an unbeliever and believe.” That’s when I knew, beyond a shadow of doubt. “My Lord and my God!”

When I was a kid, I used to love dot to dots and in some weird kind of way, my life is like a big complex dot to dot. You see, my life has been everywhere – forward, backward, to the side and each time something happens to me, there is a dot. Over the last 20 years, I have acquired a lot of dots. Now, to an outsider, all you might see is a series of dots with no significance. But you see, we are not God. He sees something else. You see, through everything God was there, and when you connect the dots; Christ is seen. But there is something important to point out - the dots only connect in the right way when looking back. So, you must trust in something that the dots will connect in your future. When that something is someone, and that someone is God - you can be assured that the dots will align up.

We may not see it at the time, but when you accept in your life that they will connect, you will get the confidence you need to follow your heart and do God’s will. Even when you are taken off the well-worn path, you can rest in the knowledge that everything that happens to you happens as a part of God’s divine, intimately created plan - just for you.

But let me tell you it won’t be easy; it is far easier to not follow God. It is far easier not to trust, because we live in a world where we are encouraged to conform and guess what? Conformity is easy, but confidence takes courage. In Philippians, Paul writes at quite possibly his lowest human moment of his life. But do you know what he writes? He writes this. ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ He has faith in tomorrow. He knows that his dots will connect for Christ no matter what. For him, if he continues to live his dots will continue to show Christ, but if he is to die, he will be with Christ. A truly win-win situation.

You see time is short and all around us we see a world falling to pieces. War, famine, poverty. Climate change, political instability, the housing crisis, homelessness. Crime, fractured communities. The list goes on. Now is the time for Love – Now is the time for Christ. It won’t be easy, it isn’t easy. But God is calling you – He loves you more than any words can express. Trust in Him, love abundantly and live a life of confidence.

At the start of this lent period reflect on your relationship with Him. Do you trust Him? Do you have confidence? Will you let Him work great things in your life?