Not an Illusion

“So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  – John 20:25

I have always found optical illusions interesting.  The fact that what we know to be true is challenged by what we see with our eyes.  This causes a conflict in the brain to try to comprehend what is beyond logic and knowledge.  You have seen the optical illusions displayed in art galleries or shopping malls, which depict an impossible geometric image.  For example, the Penrose Triangle, which appears at first glance to be a normal 3D triangle, yet when you look more carefully 2 of the 3 legs of the triangle do not actually intersect based on our knowledge of how they should intersect.  Perhaps you seen artwork where steps appear to lead upward, yet when you follow them to the top, the surface is actually the same planer surface as the bottom of the staircase.  Our knowledge, logic and understanding of this world is in a 3 dimensional perspective.  There is height, width and depth to everything we look at.  Our eyes and brain are able take in the images we view and rationalize them into something we are familiar with. 

So it was with Thomas.  He knew that Jesus had died on that cross.  He knew that he had been buried and the tomb covered with a stone.  Everything he knew about life, death and resurrection up to that point was based on human thinking and comprehension.  He was limited by what he knew, and when the disciples explained to Thomas that they had seen the risen Savior, he could not transition to a comprehension of what that meant based on his experiences up to that point in his life.  I propose that Thomas did not suffer from a lack of faith.  Even though Thomas (Didymus) had traveled and associated with Jesus for quite some time, he had not fully comprehended the deity of who Jesus Christ was.  He had a hard time getting beyond the logical knowledge of Jesus the man to see Jesus as God.  In Matthew 26:61, Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers that he will rebuild this temple in 3 days.  In John 14:1-6, Jesus tells the disciples that He will go to the Father and prepare a place for them and then return to take them with Him, and he tells Thomas specifically in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Thomas had a hard time comprehending the completeness of what Jesus was telling them though.

We do the same thing today.  We limit our acceptance of what God can do based on our understanding from a human perspective.  We see a problem and look at it from a human perspective with limitations and restrictions.  When we take a Godly perspective on a situation and accept that God is truly omnipotent and sovereign, we immediately realize that absolutely nothing is beyond His capability, if it is within His will.  Just because we want something to come to fruition doesn’t mean that God the Father wants the same thing.  It may seem completely logical and normal within our thinking, but from His vision of the full cycle of life He has a better perspective.

Like Thomas, we must accept that God can do whatever He wants to do.  We must be able to accept things in life without fully comprehending them.  Most of all, we must learn to trust that God’s plan is best for us, and the sooner we decide to align to His plan the more fulfilling our life will become.

Prayer:Heavenly Father,
Forgive us for our lack of faith, trust and acceptance of Your plan in our life.  We long to trust in Your love and wisdom to accept those things we don’t understand on faith, rather than on knowledge.  You have given us Your word to guide our footsteps and lay out the plans for our life.  Help us to internalize it, understand it and put it into practice that we might serve You better.  In Your name we pray – Amen

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