“Lord, are you the One?”

Luke chapter 7 records the request of John the Baptist as he faces certain death.  He sends messengers to Jesus to ask whether or not He was the One.  Despite an earlier acknowledgement of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, John is still undecided.  Why is he undecided?  Most likely it was his circumstance and the coming separation of his body and head.  This beheading has a way of putting things into perspective.  So, John wanted to know is Jesus was the Messiah, the King, and the One who is able to bring forth the Kingdom. This past Sunday we examined the various thoughts or struggles John had with his situation in life.  Like John, we often find ourselves in difficult situations and painful times that cause us to question God’s goodness or control over the world.  We cry out at the perceived injustice and place the challenge to God to do something about it.  All of this has an appearance of legitimacy considering our “faithful” observance of the Bible.  We cannot understand why God would allow His own children to experience such hardships.  It seems like God’s love is insufficient for our world. 

Fortunately the Scriptures provide us with some insight into this problem.  We see in Jesus’ unconventional response that we are called to a life that includes facing life’s troubles.  Jesus offers a statement and prayer for us to not fall away on account of Him.  This odd statement is in reference to His abilities and power to change our circumstance.  We should not consider his lack healing or fixing power in our situation as a lack in concern for our well being and health.  Instead He wants us to know He will struggle right along with us, teaching us, helping us and providing us opportunities to use the pain or hardship to serve in His Kingdom.  This is not an easy teaching to receive but does require our trust in His goodness and love for us. 

Do you have a hard time with this teaching?  What steps can you take to allow the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and strength to overcome hardships?  What difficult times have you faced in life that later on became a blessing or ministry opportunity to serve someone else?  Did this experience give you a different outlook on your hardship?  How can you structure your life better in order to be a person more apt to overcome life’s tough times?

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