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

Breakfast with the Word Wednesday Third Week of Advent

 

 

Luke 7:19-23

 

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.

 

There are truly moments we feel like doubting whether God exists or not. When we do not understand what God is doing in our lives, the resultant effect may be to lose faith.

 

Many today who have stopped praying and lost that fervour that distinguished them before is because of experiences like this.

 

Our moments of doubt may make us lose faith totally, worried, depressed and pose unlimited questions to Him especially when we do not understand what God is doing.

 

The truth is that God’s mysteriously does His works. So the best thing is to allow Him to do it the way He wants.

 

What to Do

In John 20:24-27, Jesus appears to Thomas after his doubt.  He allowed Him to touch His wounds to strengthen His faith. Today, Jesus also points to His Messianic works to authenticate His divine personality. All these are to strengthen their faith in Him through the works He does.

 

 

So when we do not understand what God is doing for us and you are tempted to lose faith, remember the things He has been doing for you all these while.

 

 

There are things He is still doing for you even at that time of losing hope. Do not lose hope because God is not answering your prayer the way you want. If you are tempted to lose hope remember His love all these while.

 

 

Finally, today, Jesus blesses all who would not lose faith because of Him. In essence, never let what God is doing and not doing make us lose faith in Him. Our faith in God is not conditional and should not be determined by the things He does and not do. But like Paul and Silas, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, let us keep our faith strong even amid hardest affliction.

 

The message of today is simply to trust deeply in God even when you do not understand what He is doing. At last, you will.

 

May God bless you beloved and give us the grace to keep our faith strong in Him. May He never allow us to stumble. Amen.

 

You may read

 

Action makes the Difference

 

When We lose the reverence for the Spiritual

 

To Rejoice In The Lord Always

 

When We lose the reverence for the Spiritual.

 

Rejoice in the Lord Always

 

Behind the Opposite of We Want