Almost 10 years ago I was assigned to serve as a chaplain at a Church summer camp for middle school kids. While there, besides teaching the Bible, I participated with them in a ropes course.

Ropes courses are made up of group exercises that teach you how to work together and how to trust each other. One exercise is called the "trust fall." In a trust fall, you stand on the edge of a platform about seven feet off the ground, turn backward, and willingly fall off, trusting that your group members below will catch you.

I still remember climbing the ladder up the tree to the platform. It seemed very high. And those middle school kids below seemed very small. But I turned around and willingly fell. I decided to trust. I decided to place my faith in them. And they caught me.

Our life of living in faith with God is a lot like this trust fall. We hear about this kind of faith in the Gospel of John when the risen Jesus appears to his disciples.

It was the evening of the first day of the week. Mary had returned to the disciples and told them that she had seen Jesus. And then suddenly, Jesus stood among them.

"Peace be with you", he assured them. Then he showed them the wounds in his hands and side. They saw and believed. But Thomas wasn't there. When he returned and discovered what he had missed, Thomas was doubtful.

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe," he said.

A week later, the disciples were again in the room together and Thomas was with them. Then Jesus again came to them.

"Peace be with you."

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." When Thomas saw Jesus, he cried out in faith, "My Lord and my God."

Jesus makes faith possible for his disciples. This is because he loves us and cares for us. Earlier in the gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and cares for them, providing all they need for life. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He cares for his disciples and provides what they need for life and for faith. For Thomas, he provided his presence and a look at his wounds. When Thomas saw, he was able to believe. He was able to trust in Jesus because Jesus made faith possible.

Often, people think that faith is about intellectual understanding, but faith is really about trust. Who do we place our trust in?

Trust means a willingness to follow even when everything is not seen or understood. Faith involves a bit of risk.

There is an element of uncertainty. But just like in that trust fall, when we step out and trust, we learn that the one trusted is faithful.

Each day the risen Christ calls us to trust him. Like Thomas, sometimes we struggle with our faith - our ability to trust.

But Jesus knows our concerns, our fears, our uncertainties. He will meet us where we are and provide all that we need, just like he did for Thomas.

Just turn to him and ask. And then you too will cry out, "My Lord and my God."