“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Matthew 11:3 (ESV)
John was in the dungeon. Literally and metaphorically. After publicly reproving Herod for divorcing his first wife and taking his sister-in-law as his second wife, John was arrested. While in prison, John sent word to Jesus via his disciples, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Dungeons provide lots of time for ruminating. As John lingered in his dark, dank cell, his mind strayed into dangerous territory. His whole ministry as a precursor to the Messiah was suddenly on shaky ground.
In a way, it gives me great comfort to realize that if a great prophet like John could give voice to his doubts, surely my own doubts are not taboo. There will be moments when my expectations and my reality clash. I make false assumptions about God’s will, then succumb to disappointment or doubt when God doesn’t ‘deliver.’
Part of being a Christ-follower is following. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But oh how often I find myself completely off the mark when His ways don’t match my own. And in that chasm between the two is where the enemy plants seeds of doubt, knowing that failed expectations are fertile soil for disappointment and doubt.
I love the fact that Jesus didn’t reprimand John for doubting. Instead, Jesus circled back to the promises of God. To John’s “Are you the one?” Jesus answered, “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Essentially, he was assuring John that the prophecy spoken in Isaiah 35:4-6 was being fulfilled through His ministry.
Moments of doubt will come. That’s a certainty. But what is also certain is that, if you voice your doubt to God, he will draw you to Scriptures that speak to your questions and set you back on the right path.