John the Baptist was the greatest person born up until his time. He had been in prison for about a year. It was more like a hole in the ground. He is waiting to be beheaded by the authorities. It is hardly surprising that he is going through emotional turmoil. John is a great man but he has his doubts. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We all doubt from time to time. This will lead to discouragement and even depression. How do we deal with doubt?

1 – Acknowledge your discouragement (vs. 1-3)

John asks the question to Jesus if He is the Messiah or should they look for another. John was an outdoor man. He had been in prison for about a year. It is not surprising that he became discouraged. The same thing happened to Elijah when he fled from Jezebel when she threatened his life. He had asked God to call down fire from heaven and then shortly after he is asking God to take his life. How often in your life when things don’t go our way do you begin to question God? We tend to blame God for things that don’t seem to go our way. We are not aware of what God is doing in our lives. We need to acknowledge our discouragement. We can embrace our hard times. If we don’t then we can become angry. It is not wrong to cry out to God.

2 – Admit your darkness (vs. 3)

There are some things that you do not understand. We are in the dark about a lot of things. John the Baptist was expecting vindication. He was looking for a Messiah who would crush the Romans and all evil doers. John was having difficulty understanding why he was still in prison. He was in the dark. What do you do when you are in the dark? When you are in the dark, don’t try and figure it out yourself. Don’t try and light your own fire! God knows best. We think we know it all. There are things that we just do not know. In Heaven we will understand it all. God reveals who He is in the darkness – if you will wait on Him.

3 – Accept the evidence

Jesus could have relied to John’s question with a simple “Yes” but instead called his attention to what He was doing. Jesus often appealed to his miracles to help people move from unbelief to faith. For example, “Believe me,” he said, “when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:11) The miracles performed on the blind, the lame, the lepers, and the deaf caused Nicodemus to say, “No one can perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3:2). The report of such miracles would have had the same effect on John.

When doubts assail us we are to look at what God is doing all across the land. See what He is doing in the remotest parts of the earth through His missionaries. Look at what He is doing in individual’s lives. See what God is doing in His church. When even John the Baptist has doubts about Jesus and asks, “Are you the one?” Jesus was pleased to give a reply that would replace doubt with faith. He is ready to do the same for us today, if we will be open and honest with him.

Categories: Matthew