Today’s reading: Jeremiah 6; Matthew 11
Having doubts or questioning what God is doing is not wrong or sinful, but there may be times we need to consider and accept the evidence God gives us, rather than the evidence we want.
Matthew tells us, "when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'" Is there anybody who should be more sure about who Jesus is than John the Baptist? Didn't God send him out baptizing, and tell him the one on whom he saw the spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1)? And when John baptized Jesus, didn't exactly that happen?? So how can John be doubting now??
John sent his disciples to ask Jesus because Jesus was not fulfilling his expectations for the Messiah. John, along with the rest of the Jews in his day, was looking for a Messiah who would come in as God's conquering hero, throw off Israel's oppressors, and establish an eternal, righteous kingdom in Jerusalem, and Jesus wasn't doing that... This would have left John confused, on one hand having thought he knew who Jesus was, but on the other hand not seeing Jesus doing the things he thinks He is supposed to be doing.
Was it wrong for John to be confused, or to have some doubts about Jesus? Not at all! Far from bashing or decrying John for His doubts, look at what Jesus says about him! "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." Jesus speaks incredibly highly of John and takes no issue at all with his doubt.
But, what's important not to miss in this is that while Jesus doesn't have any problems with John's question, He also doesn't explain everything to him. Jesus doesn't say, "Go and tell John, yes, I'm the Messiah, I just have a different mission first and am here to die on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, and then will come back again a second time to fulfill the rest of the mission which is what you are looking for and why you're confused." John wasn't privy to the full answer/explanation for his doubts, but Jesus did give him enough to assure him. He told John's disciples, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." Jesus pointed John to the healings and miracles He was performing that were all signs foretold in the Old Testament that the Messiah would perform. This would have left John with enough to go on, especially on top of having seen the Spirit descend on Jesus at His baptism, to trust that Jesus truly was the Messiah, even if he didn't understand what was happening.
Very often this is true for us today as well. God is not afraid of our doubts or our questions. He is the one who created us and designed us to be able to think and process and question in the first place! And God gives us enough to work through our doubts and questions, but that does not mean He always has to give us a full explanation for His every action. There are questions in the Scriptures that God doesn't give us every detail to understand, but we have more than enough to understand what we need to know. There are times when we do not understand what He is doing, or why He is allowing what He is allowing, whether in our own lives, in the lives of the people around us, or in human history at large, and like John, we may never get the answer we want, but that doesn't mean we have no answer. God has, for example, revealed enough of Himself and His character in the Scriptures for us to be able to know that, even if we don't understand what's going on, He is good, He is sovereign, He is loving, and, if we are His children, He will work all things, ultimately, for the good.
Oftentimes, when we have our doubts and our questions, we are looking to understand the "why" behind whatever is happening, and God may at times reveal that to us in one way or another, but even when He doesn't, He always gives us enough to assure us that He is still on the throne and no one has snatched us, or our situation, out of His hand. And if we are willing to accept the evidence He gives us, even if, like for John, it's not the specific evidence we want, or the specific answer we're looking for, we will find that His answers are always enough.
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