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John 20:24-28

John 20:24 But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

John 20:25 So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never trust that.”

John 20:26 A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Present your finger here and look at my hands. Present your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but trust.”

John 20:28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

week of doubt and darkness

Thomas’s story is a gift to every congregation, because it reminds us that doubt is not the enemy of faith—abandonment is. Thomas spent a week in darkness, as McGee notes, not because Jesus rejected him, but because he had stepped away from the community at the very moment he most needed it. Yet the other disciples did not cut him off. They didn’t shame him, silence him, or treat him as a threat. They simply kept him close until Jesus revealed Himself again.

And when Jesus did appear, He did not scold Thomas. He met him at the very point of his struggle. He invited Thomas to touch the wounds, to see for himself, to move from uncertainty to worship. The man who doubted most deeply became the one who uttered the clearest confession in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God.” If the disciples had pushed him away, they would have missed that moment of glory.

Every church is a mixture of personalities, temperaments, and spiritual conditions. Some are confident. Some are wounded. Some are cautious. Some are wrestling with questions they’re afraid to voice. A healthy congregation makes room for all of them. Faith grows best in a community where people are patient with one another, where doubts are not punished but shepherded, and where Jesus is trusted to reveal Himself in His time.

Your prayer captures the heart of that posture: belief that seeks strengthening, trust that seeks deepening, and compassion that seeks to embrace those who struggle. That is the kind of community Jesus formed in that upper room—a community where fear gave way to peace, and doubt gave way to worship.

Lord, we believe and trust in You. Strengthen that faith and trust in all of us. And make us gentle with those who are still finding their way toward the light.