21 Day Experiment-Day 20

Someone once said “seeing is believing.” It is much easier to believe when we can see the evidence. Yet sometimes faith is the belief in the unseen—otherwise, it wouldn’t be called faith. Much like the t-shirt I saw recently with this bold slogan across the front: BELIEVING IS SEEING!

The disciples fought to cling to their faith as they watched Jesus die on that wretched cross.  Everything they could see pointed to utter defeat! But what they could see with their eyes was not the whole story as they would soon discover.

The word SEE is sprinkled throughout today’s reading of John 20:

Mary Magdalene was the first to visit Jesus’ burial site. All she could see was an empty grave! Peter and John raced to the tomb to see for themselves. They looked inside to see the grave cloths folded, but no sign of Jesus anywhere!  The Bible says they “saw and believed” (John 20:8).

Later, Jesus appeared to Mary. She sees and believes. Then, He walks though a locked door and appears to the trembling disciples. They were overjoyed to see Jesus—and they believed!

Somehow Thomas missed out. So he refused to believe unless he saw for himself the nail marks in Jesus’ hands.  Jesus makes a special visit to “doubting Thomas.” He lets him see and touch the nail holes—then challenges Thomas to stop doubting and believe (John 20:27).

The Lord understands we sometimes wrestle to believe. Especially when it looks like evil has won the battle. That’s why John’s Gospel leaves us with these words of encouragement:

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name” (John 20:30,31).

Signs are like God’s fingerprints.  He wants us to believe that Jesus is the Christ. That’s why Jesus left signs—to help us believe!

Have you seen God’s fingerprints during our 21 Day Experiment? Maybe there’s a friend or family member that would be encouraged by your story. In tomorrow’s post, I’ll share the story of one of my own fingperprints from God.

As we come to the end of our 21 Day Experiment, I encourage you to carve out some extra time tomorrow to reflect on—and even write down—what you’ve seen. What’s you’ve heard from God. And what you believe about Jesus the Christ.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for Your fingerprints. Keep me watchful. Alert. Above all, help me to believe, even before I see what You are doing in and around me. That’s called trust—so today, I simply trust You.