I’ll believe it when I see it!

I have.  That is our culture.  That is what we’ve been taught and it has been proven wise to us over the years.  You can’t believe everything.  So, unless you see it, don’t believe it.  There has to be some catch so unless you can feel it or taste it, it is probably too good to be true.  Don’t be fooled.  Don’t be naive.  Don’t be like a child and just believe everything you hear or see.  You need to KNOW and have evidence and proof.

One of the guys that walked with Jesus for 3 years definitely would have agreed with all of that.  His name was Thomas.  And even though his trusted friends told him that they had seen Jesus and that he was alive after his gruesome murder, Thomas said something like, 

“Guys, you couldn’t have seen him.  It was probably your imagination.  If I saw the scars on his hands, or touched the place where the nails left their mark, or put my hand on his pierced side, then I could believe what you’re saying.  But without that, I will never believe.”

Thomas was convinced of this for eight days.  He’s listening to all his friends talking about how they’d seen Jesus alive and telling their stories for over a week!  But he still wouldn’t believe it without seeing it.

And I love how Jesus comes on the scene.  First of all, he walks through the locked doors and stands with them.  Awesome miracle.  Can I do that please?  

He goes to Thomas, grabs his hands and places them on his scars and shows him his hands.  And so gently he tells him to believe.  Then Jesus says to him, 

I was in Thailand working with an organization called SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) giving girls in Thailand another option to make a living making jewelry and chocolates instead of working in the bars.

We walked up and down Bangla Road every day and night praying and meeting girls, hoping to gain their trust so we could offer them a better life.  A life without fear, regret and shame.

As we would pray for the hundreds of bars along this one road, God gave us BIG dreams.  He gave us hope to see some of these bars torn down and these girls given a hope for a future out of prostitution.  He challenged us to believe what we could not see.  

Believe me, as you walk down that street, there is no hope.  It is so difficult to imagine any justice and freedom coming to the place.  And it feels like a lost cause.

But God challenged us to believe.  And he challenged us to pray.  And we did.  We prayed hard, and fervently and passionately.  We prayed until we cried.  Until we fell asleep.  We shouted.  We sang.  We danced.  We declared.  We proclaimed.  We looked like fools.  But we believed.  And we did not see anything change on Bangla Road when we left Thailand.  We did not see one girl leave the bar for a better life.  We did not see one thing happen while we were there.  But we left in faith that God was on the move.

And was he ever!

The bars are being torn down and shops are being built in their place.

Praise God because he is so faithful and true to his word, for he does bless those who choose to believe even when you cannot see!!