April 24th, 21

What do you do when it seems that God is in attentive to your circumstances? Are you tempted to lose faith? Shut down, walk away, try and go it alone? Well, john, the Baptist feels you here. He is in prison, and his circumstances aren't looking good. In fact, it won't be long before he's executed. it's doubtful that he had this in mind when he went into the desert and began to preach. He was supposed to be the forerunner, the prophet who would go into the wilderness and prepare the way for the Lord's coming, for God's Messiah to show up. He was pretty clear on this. But what he's going through right now, in this chapter, he's not so clear on at this moment, he's in prison. He's awaiting his death. And so he sent some of his disciples to go and ask Jesus a question. Are you the guy or not?

John's vision of his place in God's story is getting cloudy, and he wants some clarity. To john, it seems like God is being in-attentive to his circumstances. It seems like God's not coming through for him. And the temptation is for him to doubt. You can't blame john. In the end, he sent some of his servants to talk to Jesus. They asked him, Are You the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else? Notice how Jesus responds. He does not tell them. I'm the guy tell john, I'll break him out by noon. He's good to go. No, he doesn't say that. He tells them to report what they see in here. JOHN can't seem to see past his circumstances. Past the prison walls. He can't see past God's inactivity in his life. God's perceived inactivity have shrunk his vision down to the size of those prison walls. So Jesus wants john to see something beyond the walls of his prison. He tells John's friends to tell john what they see and what they hear. He wants his friend John, to see beyond his circumstances. The message Jesus sends back is this, "the blind received sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear the dead are raised. The good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me." It's as if he's telling john to hang in there. Hang in there, john. see beyond the walls of your prison cell. There's something bigger going on here. And maybe this is a message for you to today. Listen, your personal circumstances don't coincide with how God feels about you. Don't let your faith hinge on what God has or hasn't done for you lately. When your prison walls begin to shrink in on you and your vision matches the dimensions of that small vision. Then remember his message. The blind received side the lame walk those who have leprosy or cleanse the Deaf, hear the dead arrays and good news is preached to the poor. In other words, God is at work. He is not in attentive or neglectful of you. He is working all things out according to His purposes for you. When your circumstances come crashing in and your vision shrinks, be strengthened by the knowledge that God has his eye on you. When John's friends leave, and Jesus addresses the crowd, he says, Let me tell you something about john. There's no one like him. Jesus knew all about john. Jesus had not forgotten about john, Jesus had his eye on his friend, john. And the same is true for you. He is with you. He has not left you. He is not in attentive or neglectful of you. Let's allow Jesus to renew our vision of the God who is at work. The God who sees me. That's a prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so

You are loved!