Please, I'm so confused.

We should thank God for the example of "doubting Thomas"! The famous story of the disciple Thomas, whose name literally means “doubter,” is recorded in John 20:24-29. All Christians suffer doubt at one time or another, but the example of doubting Thomas provides both instruction and encouragement.

After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus appeared alive and glorified to His disciples to comfort them and proclaim to them the good news of His victory over death (John 20:19-23). However, one of the original 12 disciples, Thomas, was not present for this visitation (John 20:24). After being told by the other disciples of Jesus’ resurrection and personal visit, Thomas “doubted” and wanted physical proof of the risen Lord in order to believe this good news. Jesus, knowing Thomas’s human frailty resulted in weakened faith, accommodated Thomas.

It is important to note that Jesus did not have to fulfill Thomas’s request. He was not obligated in the slightest bit. Thomas had spent three years intimately acquainted with Jesus witnessing all His miracles and hearing His prophecies about His coming death and resurrection. That, and the testimony Thomas received from the other 10 disciples about Jesus’ return, should have been enough, but still he doubted. Jesus knew Thomas’s weakness, just as he knows ours.

The doubt Thomas experienced in the face of the heartbreaking loss of the One he loved is not unlike our own when facing a massive loss: despair, heartbreak, and exceeding sorrow, all of which Christ sympathizes with (Hebrews 4:15). But, although Thomas did in fact doubt the Lord’s resurrection appearance, once he saw the risen Christ, he proclaimed in faith, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus commended him for his faith, although that faith was based on sight.

As an extra encouraging note to future Christians, Jesus goes on to say, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29, emphasis added). He meant that once He ascended to heaven, He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who would live within believers from then on, enabling us to believe that which we do not see with our eyes. This same thought is echoed by Peter, who said of Christ, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

Although we have the Spirit within us, we can still experience doubt. This, however, does not affect our eternal standing with God. True saving faith always perseveres to the end just as Thomas’s did, and just as Peter’s did after he had a monumental moment of weakness by denying the very Lord he loved and believed in (Matthew 26:69-75). This is because, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Jesus is “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Faith is the gift of God to His children (Ephesians 2:8-9) and He will mature and perfect it until He returns.

So how do we keep from doubting as Thomas did? First, we must go to God in prayer when experiencing doubt. That may be the very reason God is allowing a Christian to doubt—so that we will depend on Him through prayer. Sanctification is the process of growing in Him, which includes times of doubt and times of great faith. Like the man who brought his demon-possessed child to Jesus but was unsure whether Jesus could help him, we go to God because we believe in Him and ask Him for more and greater faith to overcome our doubts, crying “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:17-27).

Second, we must recognize that Christians fight a spiritual battle daily. We have to gear up for the battle. The Christian needs to daily be armed with the Word of God to help fight these spiritual battles, which includes fighting doubt, and we arm ourselves with the “full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-19). As Christians, we must take advantage of the lulls in spiritual warfare to polish our spiritual armor in order to be ready for the next battle. Times of doubt will become less frequent if we take advantage of the good times to feed our faith with the Word of God. Then when we raise the shield of faith and do battle with the enemy of our souls, his flaming darts of doubt will not hit their target.

Doubting Christians have two things doubting Thomas did not have—the indwelling Holy Spirit and the written New Testament. By the power of both the Spirit and the Word, we can overcome doubts and, like Thomas, be prepared to follow our Lord and Savior and give all for Him, even our lives (John 11:16).


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He loves you! and even when youre scared he wants you to grow closer to him, so dont feel bad for asking, GOD WANTS US TO ASK! "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9 !

Sister, let Jesus love you. His love for you is immense, but if you hold Him at arms' length because you think you need to prove your independence from Him, it will go to waste and do you no good. He knows you're totally dependent on Him, and the sooner you acknowledge it too, the better off you will be.

Study John 15 very carefully. You will see the Lord exhort the disciples to ask, so their joy will be full. But He also tells them to abide in Him all the while. That's where the protection is, so that we won't ask for selfish things. Or if we do, we'll get corrected and our requests will be purified. But if you're afraid to ask, none of that can be accomplished.

It's a paradoxical mix of humility and boldness that's required, and the only way to reconcile those two things, which appear so opposite in the natural, is to understand that our confidence must rest completely in Christ, with none in ourselves. See Philippians 3.3 on that.

Also, these eyes would appreciate if you would tap the Enter key once in a while.

Sister, let me tell you something. Once you get saved, the devil gets mad, angry, furious. He will attack you in every which way and feed you lies upon lies upon lies, in hopes of you turning back to a life of sin. The bad thoughts may never stop. When I was living an unsaved life, never did I get bothered by what I thought to be horrible thoughts. But the day I got saved, and Jesus came into my heart, and love overwhelmed my soul, the devil came in full force. The beast hit me with just about every foul thought in the book. I couldn't pick up a bible without being run over by bad thoughts, many against the Father and Son. I prayed and prayed and prayed. The bad thoughts are becoming less and less, but the devil will never stop trying to destroy you. Just hold your head up high, tell the devil he is a worthless liar, shout that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and praise God Almighty. The devil will get mad. Real mad. Good! Get mad! We are stronger than that foul beast through Christ. I still pray for the attacks to stop, but I no longer dwell on it. I accept the fact that the reason I'm being attacked is because the devil knows I belong to Christ. I follow Christ. I love Christ. I am saved! I AM SAVED! He has lost miserably. Praise God! Be strong, Sister!

Dear One,

Your testimony doesn't happen overnight, it develops over your lifetime
as you live out your faith. Not all testimonies are the same, so don't think
your testimony will be like your peers.

God uses us according to His plans/purposes as we surrender ourselves to
Him...over the course of our faith walk in this life.
Your testimony will develop and change according to what you will experience
in your lifetime.

God isn't like so many human father(s) who become angry if you asks Him
a lot of questions.. God isn't going to kick you to the curb for seeking answers to your questions. He knows "YOU" personally (intimately) because only He knows your "heart"--nothing is hidden from God. He knows your level of maturity in the faith and He will work
with you on that (as you draw closer to Him.) Keep seeking God for all that You need!

You read the Bible?
Then you should know that the Lord has said "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you".
He isn't blowing smoke, His Words are everlasting (they change not.)

Look at it like this, the Word of God is written to "YOU" -- God is revealed
in His Word, you can read the Bible and rest in it's truth.
Don't read it haphazardly, read it as if it was written for you personally--
When someone you love writes to you, their words mean something to you.
You take those words to heart, you may even memorize parts of the message.
Do that with the Word of God too-- memorized scripture that confirms that
you are loved, that the Lord will not forsake you, you are called friend, child of God etc.

Excerpt taken from Psalm 56:
You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.

Dear One--
Our tears are never, ever wasted. When we shed them, God takes care of them. He wants to help us get through the experience triumphantly. That is the kind of God we have. He is not detached or remote and uncaring. He is right there with you catching the tears and placing them in a bottle.

Trusting in God in tearful moments and praising God, despite our fears in life, leads us to a stronger faith and a healthier Christian life.
This is not easy believism.
Far from it, this is a realistic Christian worldview.