Thursday, April 13th
Devotional written by Pastor Brian Howard, Teaching Pastor
SPACE FOR THOSE WHO DOUBT
To read today: John 20:1-10
They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
John 20:9
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We are told that on the first Easter morning, the disciples of Jesus did not fully understand the reality of the resurrection or the teaching of the Scripture regarding it. This part of the narrative has reminded me that we do not have to understand everything about God and His Word to trust Him and worship Him. We can come to Him with all our questions, doubts, insecurities, and uncertainties. We can trust Him even if there is a passage of the Bible we don’t understand or an aspect of faith we can’t get our heads around.
This week, I encourage you to hold space for those who doubt or have questions about Jesus. This past weekend we celebrated Easter with billions of brothers and sisters in Christ worldwide, but many did not join in, including some in your life. They have doubts about God, questions about the Bible, and cynicism about Jesus’ resurrection. Our impulse is often to meet this with frustration or anger, but what the Bible calls us toward is to have “mercy for those who doubt” (Jude 1:22). Our impulse as followers of Jesus should be to show compassion, not contempt, for those who have some of the same questions the first disciples had.
Reflection: Pray for someone in your life who does not trust Jesus to be open to a conversation this week.
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