"Are You the One?"

"Now 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?'"  (Matthew 11:2-3)

What an unusual question from one who had baptized Jesus. Hadn't John seen the dove descend and heard the voice that proclaimed Jesus to be the beloved Son of God.  However, now he was asking, "Are you the one...?"  It's probably safe to say that prison wasn't on John's bucket list of adventures for his life. The Messiah had come to save and set free. Would he not rescue John from these chains? Yet, the days passed with no sign of deliverance.  No doubt John found solstice in these words of the psalmist long ago,

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?  Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him; lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.  But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me." (Psalm 13)

"How long, O Lord? How long, will you hide your face?" Words I have cried out on my bathroom floor many times.  Waiting on the Lord is hard. Life happens, and I long for the Lord to rescue, to heal, to save. As time passes, my eyes tend to grow dim and my heart starts to despair, and I too begin to ask, "Are you the one?" Jesus didn't answer John's question with a simple "Yes, I am." Instead he made reference to lives being changed, "...the blind receive 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." John had to decide for himself if Jesus was the Christ. We all do. When things don't go as we want, when our prayers for deliverance or healing aren't answered as we desire, will we still believe? Will we trust in His steadfast love? 

As the story goes, John ended up dying in prison, and his head was served up on a platter for guests at a party to gaze upon. What a ghastly sight that must have been. Not the happily ever after ending we all like to read. It'd be easy to think that God had failed John that day and the enemy had won. Yet, something tells me John chose to believe, even as he drew his last breath. Jesus never promised that believing in Him would shield us from life's difficulties, but He did promise that in the midst of them we would not be alone and in the end we would be saved.

Once again, Lord, I am challenged to trust your steadfast love. You know what is best.  Help me to believe this truth in the very core of my being. Light up my eyes, Lord. Be my vision.  

10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore