The Blessing of Not Seeing

At the end of the Gospel of St. John, in Chapter 20, the Apostle Thomas famously doubts that Jesus has appeared to the other ten apostles. Jesus comes again eight days later so that Thomas may see His wounds and believe, and He says to Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

I have always thought of this verse in regard to the simple belief that Jesus has risen from the dead, and, consequently, He has proven Himself to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. We haven't seen the physical evidence of His resurrection, but we have heard of it from the witness of the Church, handed down through the generations. Thus, while not ourselves seeing, we can believe in Christ.

This past week, however, I saw the verse in a different light. Or rather, my husband showed it to me in a different light.

I was pondering how difficult it can be to connect with God's presence in our lives. I want to rely on God as my source of strength, as the one constant in my life, Who can always give me stability and unconditional love. But it would be so much easier to depend on God if I could see Him, and if He could hug me and talk to me out loud to give instruction and encouragement. Then it wouldn't take faith to have Him as my foundation--

Oh. That's the problem, isn't it? If it didn't take faith to believe in God--if we just saw Him and He talked to us and proved Himself to us beyond any shadow of a doubt--then what would be required of us?

As I related to my husband that I wished God's presence were easier to see, he quoted the verse above: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." We are blessed when we seek to perceive God's presence in the subtle ways that He makes Himself known to us. That act of faith changes us and helps transform us into the people He wants us to be. It is hard work to choose Him as our stable rock, but the blessing comes in the work itself. Work that, without the need for faith, it would be impossible for us to do.