What Is Your “Unless...”

But [Thomas] said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” -- John 20:25

A little nine-year old Irish boy, by the name of Clive Staples Lewis, watched his young mother dying. Nightly, he would beg God to spare her life. When she passed away, so did this young child’s faith.

But there’s good news! This child, better known as C. S. Lewis, went on to become the greatest Christian apologist of the 20th century. He said that the fact that his prayer “wasn’t answered” was a turning point in the degradation of his faith and his foray into many years of atheism. Unless he saw his mother healed, he wouldn’t believe.

I don’t think C. S. Lewis is unique in his faith ultimatum. Thomas could relate. He was one of the disciples locked away in fear after Christ’s crucifixion. When he learned from the other disciples that the risen Christ had appeared to them behind closed doors, Thomas was having none of it.

“No way, it didn’t happen, and I need some pretty solid proof to believe it did,” is essentially Thomas’ comments in John 20:25. He wanted sensory proof: “Unless I see...unless I touch...”

How about us? Have you and I had “unless” struggles with our own faith?
- Unless my prayer is answered affirmatively
- Unless my circumstances (in my job, marriage, school, health, child, etc) change
- Unless I have peace
- Unless this worry and anxiety calms down

Unless this, unless that – I won’t believe. Maybe ours isn’t so much “I won’t believe.” It echoes more like “I can’t have peace unless...” or “I can’t be happy unless...” Maybe we don’t say it as expressly as Thomas did, but being honest and bringing this doubt to the Lord is imperative to overcoming it. Confronting it head-on, Christ can mend the ripples in our “seeing is believing” frame of mind.

And that’s exactly what He did with Thomas in John 20:26-29. He appeared not to harshly rebuke, but rather out of love; not to scold and embarrass, but instead to reassure and remind. He offered Thomas the proof he had wanted.

It doesn’t always work that way for us though, does it, friends? Sometimes we just don’t get our own subjective “unless” satisfied on our terms. But that doesn’t mean that God leaves our “unless” unaddressed.

Leaving it unaddressed on our terms is actually how God may be addressing it in His own wisdom. Leaving it unaddressed in our eyes may be how God is strengthening our faith and reliance on Him. Leaving it unaddressed may be for our good, even though we cannot imagine how. And that is where faith in Christ comes in.

C.S. Lewis beautifully turns our “unless” argument on its head when he said, “I am sure that God keeps no man waiting, unless He sees that it is good for him to wait.” Christ tells us, as he tells Thomas, that we are in fact “blessed” in the midst of our unless struggles because we hold fast, despite the sensory proof! (“Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed!”).

But how can we feel “blessed” when we are so very much wanting something more concrete? By focusing on God’s “until” instead of focusing on our “unless.”

He responds to all of our “unless” struggles with His own “until” promises

- He will be with us always until the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20)
- We will be victorious since God has promised to be faithful to us until He returns (Rev 2: 25, 26)

-  Christ will enable us to do the very work He has set out for us until He comes back or calls us home (Philippians 1:6)

-  Our heavenly father is with us even until our old age. He will sustain us, rescue us, and carry us (Isaiah 46:4)

- He will forgive us every day until we are in the perfection of heaven (Ephesians 1:7)

• Lord, help us focus not on the “unless” wishes we have, but rather on the “until” promises You have given us -- We are not alone, we are equipped for our circumstances, we are enabled to fight the good fight with Your peace in our hearts. We thank You for the times that You do provide that subjective relief we request, but we also thank You for the times that you don’t – believing that as our caring Father, the absence of that “proof” is for our good!