John the Baptist was rugged, bold and popular. He was a “man’s man” who wore camel hair clothes. He fearlessly called out self-centered leaders with strong words like “Brood of vipers!”, so he wasn’t exactly the timid type. He even declared Jesus the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. But later, the story took a drastic turn and we read these shocking words:

“And John…sent them to Jesus saying, Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” – Luke 7:19

Suddenly, the mood changed; why? It’s because John proved to be human. Not in a sinful, fall-from-grace kind of way, but in a real life, faith-in-motion kind of way. At that point John was in prison, having faithfully executed what God commissioned him to do, but doubt crept in. That’s the way it is, you’re walking along with a sense of confidence and the path begins to feel strange and unfamiliar. For John, he had faithfully preached judgment, repentance and the Kingdom, but so far, it appeared nothing was happening. The Romans were still in charge, the Jewish leaders were still bullying the people and nothing had happened to change it. Could he have been wrong?

Jesus graciously replied and endorsed John’s ministry by saying, “…among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist…” but He also instructed them to return and tell what they had witnessed; “The blind seeing, the lame walking…etc.” (fulfilling prophecy- Is. 35:5-6).

So what do you know to be true today? For a moment, set aside the circumstances and ask yourself, “What do I know to be true?” How have you experienced God’s provision in the past and known Him to be faithful? Pause to thank Him for those moments, hold on to them, and look forward with confidence because:

“He who calls you is faithful…” (I Thess. 5:24).