So Full Of Doubt - 10 of 12
September 8, 2019
Over the past many weeks we’ve looked at towering examples of faith: those who pursued God with their whole heart and, it would appear, with every moment of their lives. And while this inspires and encourages, if taken the wrong way on the wrong day, the non-believer and the believer may look at them and think to themselves, “Man, I’ll never be like them…they are so full of faith while I’m full of doubt, or at least much more than I’d prefer.” Sometimes we wonder - at least I do - “How in the world did they get to be like that?”
Do great figures in the faith ever doubt? Can God allow for such a human response to that which is so plainly obvious?
John the Baptist was a man of towering faith, and was the one who stood in the wilderness and declared the coming glory of God in the form of Jesus who is the Christ. He prepared the way, he knew Him when he saw Him, he conceded the righteousness of Jesus, and with a bit of convincing, relented and baptized Jesus. He stood afar and saw his ministry coming to an end as he confessed to his own disciples that there must be a changing of the guard, as it were. That he, John the Baptist, who ate wild honey and locusts and wore garments made of camel hair with a leather belt around his waist, humbled his whole life joyously to the coming and the ministry of Jesus Christ.
“And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ (Matthew 11:3, NKJV)
Despite his great faith, there were moments of great doubt and, no surprise, these doubts surfaced at the low moments of his life. We can take great comfort that if the one who baptized Jesus in the River Jordan had doubts, so can we.
We can also take comfort in the response Jesus made to the disciples John the Baptist sent: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’” (Matthew 11:4-6 NKJV)
No rebuke, no chastisement, but a loving confirmation of John’s faith and that his life in faith wasn't for nothing. As it was with John the Baptist, so it is with us - that despite our low moments, despite our questions and our wondering, we are met with the loving encouragement of Christ. In this we can take heart, and we can press onward toward the prize which lies before us. (Read Philippians 3:13)