Afraid to Hope Again

John‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬-‭8‬, ‭16‬, ‭NASB

Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” 

…

Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

John 20:24-25, NASB

But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

‭

Before the death of Jesus, Thomas was a voice of faith and courage among the disciples. He was ready to die with Jesus if necessary.

He believed in Jesus.

But, after Jesus’s death, he refused to believe. And he wasn’t the only one. After the women told the disciples about the angels and the empty tomb, this is what Luke’s gospel tells us:

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭11‬, ‭ESV‬‬

but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

When Jesus died on that cross, His disciples were confused—and their confusion and disappointment quickly gave way to disillusionment. 

At first glance, it seems that what Thomas and the rest of the disciples were feeling was “doubt.” But, at the core of that doubt, was something else—a fear of hope.

Have you ever been there before? 

Have you ever been afraid to hope again because the circumstances you hoped for—and believed for—happened so differently than you expected? 

I know I have. 

And we’re not alone in this. People all throughout the Bible got confused by the ways of God.

But God. 

God has so much grace for the humanity of His people.

What did Jesus do for His disciples?

He showed up and revealed Himself to them.

What did Jesus do for Thomas? 

He showed up and revealed to Thomas exactly what Thomas had “asked” to see.

And when they all finally understood what God had been doing all along, not only were they empowered to hope again, they were empowered to preach that hope for the rest of their lives.

So, precious child of God, don’t be afraid to hope again. If God hasn’t yet revealed to you what He’s doing, then keep believing anyway. 

Believe without seeing. 

Our hope will never put us to shame (Romans 5:5)—because our hope isn’t in specific early outcomes, our hope is in our perfect-planning, sovereign, all-knowing, eternity-minded Heavenly Father.