Jesus knew and loved Thomas in all his unbelief — just as he loves everyone, even those who don’t believe in him. Thomas is a kind of modern patron saint — we too can be skeptical and cynical and often demand proof and evidence. This is not a bad thing because God has given us a mind to think and reason. However, faith is truly a gift, intended to work together with reason, in harmony. The Lord appeared to Thomas to lead him from unbelief to faith. He said to him: ‘do not be faithless, but believing.‘ Through seeing the risen Lord, Thomas came to a profound faith. His confession of faith should be on the lips of every believer: ‘My Lord and my God.‘
However, the truth is that our faith is tested and tried. Often we struggle with doubts. We doubt that God loves us. We cannot trust that God has a plan for our lives and will take care of us. We are not convinced that God has the power to change certain areas of our lives, especially those with which we have struggled for years. We, like Thomas, need Jesus to lead us from doubt to faith, from unbelief to belief.