When We do not Understand What God is doing. Wed 3rd Week Advent

By Sanctus Mario Last updated Dec 16, 2021 1,601 18

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Breakfast with the Word Wednesday Third Week of Advent

There are times in life when we seem not to understand what God is doing. Sometimes this comes when we expect something from God and it does not come the way we want.

There are moments we pray and keep our faith strong and yet it looks as if the opposite is what we see. When we do not understand what God is doing, there is the temptation to lose our patience and even lose faith.

Hence it looks as if the promises of God are not real. This may be as a result of the experiences we are facing in actual life.

Many today lose their trust in God. Some even think He is not real. This may arise because what we see is different from what we prayed for or what we expected.

The truth is that when we do not understand God, the temptation to fall into doubt begins to creep in. Hence many stumble at this point.

In the Gospel

In the Gospel, John sends his disciples to Jesus to inquire if He is truly the Messiah or are they expecting another one. This question today seems strange because John has been the one announcing the coming of the Messiah.

This question is a reflection of someone who is in doubt. Jesus responds by pointing to His messianic works; teaching, healing, salvation, setting the captives free, making the blind to see etc which echo His messianic manifesto of Luke 4:18, quoted from Isaiah 61:1.

Pointing to His works also reflects what will begin to happen when the Messiah comes as was prophesied in Isaiah 35:5-6.

Possible Reasons for The Question

1. Many scholars have tried to verify the possible reasons for this question. Almost everyone knows that John was a mighty prophet. He would have certainly understood that Jesus is the Messiah but His questions reflect someone who exercises His feelings as a Human being.

2. Secondly, It is certain that at this time, John was languishing in prison. He knows that one of the functions of the Messiah as was quoted in Isaiah 61 is that He will set the prisoners free. But Jesus keeps silence at His ordeals. This could lead to depression and doubt because John was in prison and Jesus is yet to release Him.

3. Thirdly, John may be expecting that the Kingdom He had been announcing will come immediately but up till now, there was no sign of it. Maybe the approach Jesus takes was different from what John expected.

4. Finally, many at that time expected that the Messiah would deliver them from Roman domination. They expected a physical liberation. John may have been influenced also by this major belief of His time. He thus requests if they will wait for another.

The Moments of Our Doubt.

There are also times when we feel God is not doing what we want. Maybe we have prayed, fasted and even worked for it but we are yet to see any glimpse of God’s intervention.