When You Need an Encounter for Yourself
“My Lord and my God.” - John 20:28
At some point, borrowed faith starts feeling thin. Believing because your parents believed. Trusting God because your community does. Showing up because that is what you have always done. Those things can carry you for a while, but eventually life asks harder questions. Pain hits. Disappointment lingers. Answers feel distant. Suddenly, you realize you cannot live off someone else’s experience with God anymore.
That tension shows up clearly in Thomas. He had walked with Jesus. He had seen miracles. He had heard the truth firsthand. Still, when resurrection news reached him secondhand, it wasn’t enough. Stories didn’t satisfy what doubt had stirred inside him. Thomas didn’t walk away, but he also didn’t pretend. He needed something personal. Faith inherited from proximity wasn’t going to sustain him anymore.
God doesn’t shame Thomas for that need. Jesus doesn’t tell him he should have believed harder or trusted faster. Instead, He meets him exactly where he is. Scars are shown. Space is given. Honesty is welcomed. That moment matters because it reveals something important. God is not threatened by your need for a real encounter. He invites it.
Inherited faith often relies on repetition. Personal faith grows through encounter. One depends on memory. The other forms through experience. When faith becomes personal, questions don’t disappear, but they stop feeling dangerous. Doubt becomes a doorway instead of a dead end. Trust deepens not because everything makes sense, but because you’ve met God for yourself.
Many people try to silence their questions because they fear what honesty might cost them. Yet Scripture shows the opposite. God responds to seekers who come honestly. Thomas didn’t lower the standard for belief. He clarified it. And Jesus responded. Faith didn’t break under scrutiny. It became stronger through encounter.
If you feel like borrowed faith isn’t enough anymore, don’t panic. That hunger doesn’t mean you are losing faith. It means you are ready for something deeper. Bring your questions. Stay present. Keep showing up. God still meets people personally. An encounter meant for you will never look exactly like someone else’s, and that’s the point.
At some point, borrowed faith starts feeling thin. Believing because your parents believed. Trusting God because your community does. Showing up because that is what you have always done. Those things can carry you for a while, but eventually life asks harder questions. Pain hits. Disappointment lingers. Answers feel distant. Suddenly, you realize you cannot live off someone else’s experience with God anymore.
That tension shows up clearly in Thomas. He had walked with Jesus. He had seen miracles. He had heard the truth firsthand. Still, when resurrection news reached him secondhand, it wasn’t enough. Stories didn’t satisfy what doubt had stirred inside him. Thomas didn’t walk away, but he also didn’t pretend. He needed something personal. Faith inherited from proximity wasn’t going to sustain him anymore.
God doesn’t shame Thomas for that need. Jesus doesn’t tell him he should have believed harder or trusted faster. Instead, He meets him exactly where he is. Scars are shown. Space is given. Honesty is welcomed. That moment matters because it reveals something important. God is not threatened by your need for a real encounter. He invites it.
Inherited faith often relies on repetition. Personal faith grows through encounter. One depends on memory. The other forms through experience. When faith becomes personal, questions don’t disappear, but they stop feeling dangerous. Doubt becomes a doorway instead of a dead end. Trust deepens not because everything makes sense, but because you’ve met God for yourself.
Many people try to silence their questions because they fear what honesty might cost them. Yet Scripture shows the opposite. God responds to seekers who come honestly. Thomas didn’t lower the standard for belief. He clarified it. And Jesus responded. Faith didn’t break under scrutiny. It became stronger through encounter.
If you feel like borrowed faith isn’t enough anymore, don’t panic. That hunger doesn’t mean you are losing faith. It means you are ready for something deeper. Bring your questions. Stay present. Keep showing up. God still meets people personally. An encounter meant for you will never look exactly like someone else’s, and that’s the point.
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