Luke 7:20 & 22

"John the Baptist has sent us to you, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'"

Luke 7:20

"And He, answered them, 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind recieve thier sight, the lame walk, lepersare cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them."

Luke 7:22

So you have doubts sometimes! This is John the Baptist, sitting in Herod's jail cell, with doubts. John the Baptist! The Prophet who announced the Messiah and called for repentance because the time was near for His coming. The one chaosen by God and announced by Gabriel to his againg mother that He would do so. Now after letting Herod know that marrying his brothers wife that he was sinning sat in prison, wondering if Jesus was actually the Messiah.

Ok Christians, admitt it, you doubt sometime in your faith. Maybe if you are truly saved, if your walk is strong enough, if God actulally still knows who you are. Doubt can come at any time over anything, like John, many times it is when the pressure is on, stress, or being over worked. Maybe the doubt comes as you study some new passages or theology that you just can not understand, you simply move on and consider something else.

Non Christians have serious doubt, of course. Most people will believe in God but then the hard part of believing in and following Christ they draw the line. Until the time in their lives when Jesus stands face to face with them it is all foolishness and not for them. In hard times their doubt and the Christians doubt, however can manifest in the same ways. Thats the fallen nature in all.

John asks " Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" This is how our doubt can cause us to stumble. We may be looking at Christ, accepting and walking with Him and then because of circumstance, we look for another. We look for anger, or depression, alcohol or over eating. In doubt we find something else that will fill the gapo and become tangible to us, other then Christ.

This is not to say that doubt is always bad either, if corrected in the right way. John goes to the source. He sends his followers to Jesus to ask Him. He is waivering but maintains his faith enough to wait on an answer from Jesus. John is digging deeper in His faith, checking for himself and trusting that in time the Lord will supply the answer to him. How long each of us can hold on varies. How well we can go to prayer rather then going to the bottle, hold off from sitting in front of the computer, keep from dangerous anxiety, it all depends on the trust we have in Him to begin with.

Then comes Jesus' response. He doesn't say "come on John, you have known me from the beginning, absolutely I am who you think I am." No, He gives a buetiful response that places John into a descsison point. Jesus merely recites the miracles and signs which would confirm the Messiah as Scriptures had prophesiced. He gives to John enough information to descided if the answer is yes or no. This is the same thing that we did when we first came to Christ. We were brought to a place where we descided that Jesus was Lord and Savior. We looked at the facts, felt in our hearts and voluntariliy invited Him in to guide our lives. When we do it in this way the descision matters.

For non Christians or those that become followers for reasons other then true faith in their hearts doubt will remain strong and constant. There is no assurance within of Jesus being the Savior and truly seeking that relationship with Him. There may be times, where you will send out the feelers to see if your faith can become real but true committment has not yet come, you have not made the choice truly on your own.

If you have made this choice, as John had, and the Disciples that followed Jesus, then doubt may come, circumstances may arrise that cause to ask Jesus the hard question. It may even require you to asks those around you that are Brothers and Sistaers to help you seek Him, as John did with his followers, but in the end we must go to the Lord, and fight against that doubt through Him and with His assistantance. We must come to a specific descsion and before we turn we must seek.

Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life, nobody comes to the Father except through Him. Trust Him, seek Him allow Him in times of doubt to strengthen you, to give you the information that you need to stand again no matter what the circumstance. Trust Him.

Lord Jesus, may I and those who read this, always turn to you before we turn elswhere. May we ask you the questions of our heart and may we have others help us along the way. Amen.