December 5 — "Believing Without Seeing"

Today's Reading: John 20:19-31

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” You’ve heard it a thousand times. Maybe you’ve even said it yourself. It’s the anthem of a world trained to trust only what it can measure, verify, touch, or photograph.

Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, could’ve trademarked the phrase. His words in John 20:25 were, “Unless I see… I will never believe.”  But when Jesus walks into that locked room in John 20:29 and says, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” He flips the slogan upside down. He gently invites Thomas—and all of us—into a deeper kind of knowing, the kind that doesn’t wait for sight before stepping forward—the kind that says, "I’ll see it when I believe it.”

Here’s the big idea: the richest blessings in the Christian life belong to those who trust Jesus without demanding proof first. Faith doesn’t begin with sight; it begins with trust in the crucified and risen Christ who reveals Himself through His Word and His Spirit.

Thomas needed to touch the scars. Jesus met him there. But then, like the ultimate Teacher, Jesus widened the lens. He spoke a blessing over every future believer who would come to Him through the testimony of the Apostles and the truth of the Gospel. That includes you. And Jesus isn’t scolding Thomas—He’s spotlighting the miracle of your faith.

The Greek word for “believed”—pisteuō—means to lean your entire weight upon something. It’s not passive agreement; it’s active confidence. That’s the kind of faith you and I live by every day. Paul declared, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Peter echoed it: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him… and believe in Him” (1 Peter 1:8). The entire Christian life is built on trusting the One we haven’t yet seen but already know.

I remember a season early in ministry when I begged God for a sign. I didn’t say it out loud, but my heart whispered Thomas’s line: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Instead of sending fireworks, the Lord sent me to His Word. That’s where He anchored me. And that’s where He still anchors me today. As Spurgeon wisely said, “When you cannot trace His hand, you can trust His heart.”

So as the world chants, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” The Christ follower learns to say, “I’ll see it because I believe.” That’s the faith Jesus blesses—the steady, unseen, stubborn trust that keeps walking even when the path is dim.

May the Lord strengthen your faith, deepen your trust, and fill you with the joy of believing in the Savior you have not seen yet dearly love.