Doubt isn't the opposite of faith. It might be the beginning of it

Most of us know what it's like to want something to be true and still not be sure it is.

You've heard a story that sounds almost too good. You've felt something pull you toward it. But certainty never quite showed up. And so you've stayed in this in-between place, not fully in, not fully out, just carrying the question around like you're not sure what to do with it.

I think about Peter a lot when I think about that feeling.

The Guy Who Ran

Here's what we know. After the crucifixion, after everything fell apart, word started spreading that the tomb was empty. And Peter, the guy who had sworn he would never abandon Jesus and then did it three times in a single night, that guy, he runs.

Not walks. Runs.

Luke 24:12 says he got up and ran to the tomb. He stoops down, peers in, sees the linen wrappings lying there. The tomb is empty. The evidence is right in front of him.

And then he went home wondering.

I want to stay with that for a second because I think we blow past it too fast.

Peter doesn't come out of that tomb preaching. He doesn't gather a crowd. He doesn't announce anything. He just goes home with a head full of questions he can't answer yet. The text says he was wondering to himself about what had happened.

He saw the empty tomb and still didn't have it figured out.

Wondering Isn't Failing

Here's what gets me. We don't talk about Wondering Peter the way we talk about Doubting Thomas. We don't treat this moment like a failure. Because it wasn't. It was just honest.

Peter ran toward the thing that mattered most to him, looked at the evidence with his own eyes, and then sat with the weight of not fully understanding it yet.

That is not weak faith. That might actually be what real faith looks like in the early stages.

A lot of us have been told somewhere along the way that faith means certainty. That if you have questions you're not there yet. That you need to get your belief sorted out before you can really belong.

But Peter went home wondering and Jesus still showed up for him. Not just eventually. Personally. Specifically. The angel at the tomb in Mark's account tells the women to go tell the disciples, and Peter. As if Peter needs to hear this more than anyone.

Jesus didn't write him off for needing time. He didn't disqualify him for the denial, or for walking home with more questions than answers. He came back for him.

The Kind of God We're Actually Dealing With

I think that tells us something important.

Not a God who is waiting for you to have it all together before he takes you seriously. Not a God who is put off by your uncertainty, your distance, or the years you've spent staying home instead of running toward anything.

The empty tomb doesn't demand that you arrive with all the answers. It just asks you to look.

Peter ran. He looked. He wondered. And that was enough to start.

If you're in that place right now, somewhere between curious and convinced, between wanting it to be true and not quite being sure, you are not behind. You are not disqualified. The wondering is not the problem.

It might actually be the beginning of something.

Easter at Next Level

Easter is Sunday, April 5th at 10:00 AM.

And we're not asking anyone to have it figured out before they walk in the door. We're starting right where Peter started. With an empty tomb, a lot of questions, and the kind of God who shows up anyway.

If you've been sitting on the sidelines, come as you are. Come wondering. Come with your questions.

We'd love to see you there.