Life throws curveballs. We end up in bad situations. Our lives do not always look like how we envisioned them. Maybe our family is failing or our health is declining or our grades are slipping. What then? Maybe you have prayed and prayed for this circumstance to change and have seen no change. Do you feel like God is silent?
I have been feeling this way a lot recently. I struggle with anxiety and loneliness and have been waiting for God to free me of this burden for years. While sometimes I feel like I am getting better, I always end up right back where I started. More and more I felt like God was getting further away. Then, I went to church on Sunday and the message seemed to be written just for me. It talked about doubting God and feeling like He is indifferent to our problems. It is so easy to base our faith on our circumstances. We tend to view God's faithfulness by what we are going through. We can't use our situation to judge God. Our circumstances change, but God never changes.
The example the pastor used was that of John the Baptist. John had spent his whole life preparing the people for Jesus and was overjoyed when Jesus finally arrived, the man he had told everyone was coming. Shortly after, John was put in prison. From prison, he started to doubt. He even sent some disciples to visit Jesus to ask Him "'Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?'" (Matthew 11:3). John, who was so passionate about Jesus, used his poor circumstances to judge Jesus' character. Jesus hadn't come to help John, so John questioned if He was even the Messiah at all. Hearing the pastor tell this story, I felt so convicted. Maybe you do too.
I, like John, was doubting God's goodness because I was struggling. I was forgetting that God doesn't change. My situation, my health, my emotions, and my feelings had changed, but God is just as good, kind, just, and faithful as He always is. Maybe God is using this period to teach me or to bring good to me or others, but in any case, it is not because He is absent.
The pastor pointed out another important verse that shows Jesus' response to John's doubts. Matthew 11:6 says "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me". This verse points out that we stumble when we, as the pastor said, "don't think God is living up to our view of Him". This is so true. We stumble into doubt believing that God should be doing this or that. What we should be doing is not allowing our circumstances to change what we know is true. We know who God is. We know that He is good and merciful. We know that He is powerful and just. We know that He is forgiving and awesome. We know. Don't let your personal circumstances, your nation's turmoil, or your world's brokenness make you forget what you know to be true. God is faithful and there is always a greater purpose and a greater good that can come out of your pain. Keep praying. God is listening and He is faithful.
