Easter thoughts

We have been to the church twice this Easter weekend. Those who know us well, understand that it is a piece of information worth sharing. :)


On Good Friday there was an evening with drama and music presenting the passion of Christ. The story ended with the Lord hanging on the cross, leaving everyone waiting for the glorious morning of the resurrection. It was a nice way of telling the story. The Christian in me enjoyed every moment and was especially moved by seeing people in the audience being touched. The theater critic in me thought of about a hundred minor things that could be done to improve the play a bit and I began thinking, maybe I'd like to be part of the directing crew next year. However, all in all, it was a fine evening and I was glad we went.

On the Sunday morning we went to the church again. Fine service, I must say. The choir sung well (my husband suffered a little because of the out-of-tune-grand-piano, but my not-so-musical-ear did  not even notice), the pastor delivered a good message from his heart and after the service we had some lovely chats with lovely people.

One thought lingered with me from the sermon. Actually, it was not anything that was said, quite the opposite. It was a truth that was NOT said. The pastor mentioned the doubting Thomas who did not believe the testimony of the other disciples about the risen Lord. We all remember Thomas saying, "if I do not touch the wounds in his hands and feet and his side, I will not believe." The pastor went on to tell how Jesus appeared to Thomas and he was allowed to touch those wounds and when touching he believed and so on.

Well , I thought, ALMOST but NOT QUITE so! Thomas COULD have touched the wounds, but nowhere does it say he did. He responded to Jesus' appearing with a statement of faith, "My Lord." And Jesus says to him, "Because you SAW, you believe." We do not do justice to Thomas when we call him "the doubting one". None of the other disciples believed either before they saw!

To me this is important and speaks of the fact that we are SO WRONG about what we need to believe. We might set down stipulations for the Lord to fulfill saying, THEN we'd trust and believe. Yet, we have no idea what is really needed to trigger faith in us. Thomas wanted to believe, but couldn't. And Jesus did whatever was needed to help him. But it was not what Thomas had thought.

This ties into another thought, about how little we know about ourselves; namely, the amount of suffering we can bear. We are told in the Bible that we will not be tried to the extent that we cannot handle it anymore. How many times have I found myself saying, "I cannot take it anymore" or "If THAT happens, I will not survive"? And just about as many times I have been wrong. Things happened, the greatest fear was realized - and here I am, still alive, still His child.

In the end, it all boils down to a few things. First, the Lord is willing to do whatever is REALLY needed to make us able to believe. Second, no matter what happens, we will not believe if it is not in our heart already that we are WILLING to trust Jesus. Third, the Lord knows better than we do what we need and what we can handle. So, why not trust the Good Lord?