WHEN THOMAS, WHO AT FIRST HAD DOUBTED, finally recognized that Christ truly had been raised from the dead, Christ said to him, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
The Hebrew letter tells us that faith is “a conviction of things not seen.” In the modern world, where mammon is god, the rule is: “Seeing is believing.” But God calls us to faith, to believe on “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom Having Not Seen, Ye Love; in Whom, Though Now Ye See Him Not, yet Believing, Ye Rejoice with Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory.” (1 Peter 1:7‑8)
When we believe and obey the Gospel, there is no visible sign of our salvation, no voice from heaven saying we have been accepted. Yet we believe, because we have the word and promise of Christ. When we look at the world and realize that gross evil and corruption abound everywhere, it is by the same faith that we believe that Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and that all things will work together for good for them that are called according to (God’s) purpose.
It is apparent that God desires people who are willing to trust, not in themselves, but in Him, people who believe on Him in the face of all conditions to the contrary. Prosperity and good health are special blessings, and cause for thanksgiving, but their absence is no sign that God has ceased to care and provide. Faith is to believe that He is with us at all times, in want or in suffering, and that whatever the course requires, it is the means by which God will draw us close and conform us to His image.