That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

John 20:19-20,24-25

Dear God, pobrecito Thomas (poor Thomas). I don’t think John intended to single him out as a “doubter,” but as someone expressing what they were all feeling. What were they feeling? Despair. Frustration. Fear. Uncertainty. Lack of direction/confusion. Anger. Really, the list I am coming up with here is limited only to the amount of time I am willing to give to it—and then I would still miss some. But my point is, I think John felt the same way Thomas did.

There’s a fun, campy song by Carman called “Sunday’s on the Way.” There’s a like that says, “When problems try to bury you and make it hard to pray, it may seem like Friday night, but Sunday’s on the way.” “Sunday” is the unknown moment that we won’t know when it comes until after we’ve passed it. In the midst of overwhelmedness, confusion, despair, fear, anger, etc., my hope isn’t in a specific outcome. My hope isn’t in a timeline. My only hope is that you are in your heaven and all is right with the world.

Father, to quote another song, “[I] don’t know where all this is going, or how it all works out. Lead [me] to peace that passes understanding. A peace beyond all doubt.”

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen