BELOVED PASTOR, D. L. MOODY, ONCE REMARKED THAT, “THE BEST WAY TO SHOW THAT A STICK IS CROOKED IS NOT TO ARGUE ABOUT IT OR TO SPEND TIME DENOUNCING IT, BUT TO LAY A STRAIGHT STICK ALONGSIDE IT.”
IT IS HUMAN NATURE TO QUESTION AND TO BE SKEPTICAL OF FACTS, FIGURES OR ANY TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT CHALLENGES WHAT WE BELIEVE, ALREADY KNOW OR HAVE EXPERIENCED. NOBODY WANTS TO BE CHALLENGED WITH HAVING TO CHANGE ALL THEY HAVE BELIEVED OR HAVE BEEN TAUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING.
SOME OF THE HARDEST MOMENTS IN LIFE CAN BE WHEN A LONG-HELD BELIEF, TRADITION, OR EXPECTATION BECOMES DISMANTLED OR DEFLATED DUE TO NEWLY REVEALED FACTS.
LIKE THE “STRAIGHT-STICK,” WE CAN FIND OURSELVES DOUBTING, ANXIOUS, CONCERNED, AND EVEN DISILLUSIONED AFTER FINDING THAT, WHEN COMPARED AGAINST THE STRAIGHT-STICK, OUR “STICK” OF LONG-HELD BELIEFS AND HOPES WAS THE ONE THAT WAS CROOKED. IT’S NEVER EASY TO REALIZE WE WERE WAY-OFF-BASE OR TO HAVE THINGS TURN OUT DIFFERENTLY.
NOBODY LIKES BEING LET-DOWN AFTER GETTING THEIR HOPES UP. IT IS NOT PLEASANT TO REALIZE YOU HAD IT ALL WRONG. IT REALLY STINKS WHEN THINGS DON’T TURN-OUT AS EXPECTED.
JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS NO DIFFERENT. HE HAD PUT HIS LIFE INTO PAVING THE WAY FOR JESUS AS THE COMING MESSIAH, BUT THINGS DIDN’T QUITE GO THE WAY HE EXPECTED OR HAD THOUGHT.
HE HAS BEEN SITTING IN PRISON FOR NEARLY A YEAR AND WAS GROWING EVERMORE CONFUSED. HE THOUGHT JESUS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MESSIAH, BUT WAS THINKING HE WAS JUST A “MIRACLE WORKER” AND A “FAITH-HEALER.”
I CAN SEE WHY JOHN WAS DISSAPPOINTD AND SOMEWHAT DISILLUSIONED. PASTORWARREN WIERSBE SAID OF JOHN “IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO SYMPATHIZE WITH JOHN AS HE SUFFERED IN PRISON.HE WAS A MAN OF THE DESERT, YET HE WAS CONFINED INDOORS. HE WAS AN ACTIVE MAN, WITH A DIVINE MANDATE TO PREACH; YET HE WAS SILENCED. HE HAD ANNOUNCED JUDGMENT AND YET THAT JUDGMENT WAS SLOW IN COMING. HE RECEIVED ONLY PARTIAL REPORTS OF JESUS’ MINISTRY AND COULD NOT SEE THE TOTAL PICTURE.”
THANKFULLY, JOHN HAD HIS DISCIPLES WHO REMAINED CLOSE TO HIM DURING HIS IMPRISONMENT. THEY WOULD COME TO HIM TO KEEP HIM UPDATED ON ALL THAT JESUS WAS DOING.
ALTHOUGH THE REPORTS OF WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WERE SIMPLY AMAZING AND REFLECTED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, JOHN WAS STILL SKEPTICAL. HIS DOUBTS WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO STIR HIM INTO SENDING HIS DISCIPLES DIRECTLY TO JESUS WITH A VERY INTERESTING QUESTION.
EVEN THOUGH HE DELCARED WITH HIS OWN VOICE IN JOHN 1:29 “LOOK, THE LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD” JOHN STILL WANTED TO KNOW, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHOULD WE EXPECT SOMEONE ELSE?” WHAT JOHN WAS IMPLYING WAS“ARE YOU REALLY THE EXPECTED MESSIAH OR SHOULD WE WAIT FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF MESSIAH?”
JOHN HAD DOUBTS AND HE WONDERED ABOUT JESUS. ESPECIALLY “AFTER ALL HE DID FOR JESUS,” YOU WOULD THINK THAT JOHN WOULD NOT END UP DISAPPOINTED, DISILLUSIONED, CONFUSED AND NOT, IN OF ALL PLACES, PRISON?
THE PEACEFUL TEACHING AND HEALING MINISTRY OF JESUS DIDN’T QUITE MEASURE UP TO JOHN. LIKE MANY OTHERS, JOHN EXPECTED JESUS TO BE A MILITARY MESSIAH TO SAVE THEIR PEOPLE FROM ROMAN OPPRESSION. PLUS, JESUS WAS HIS COUSIN, SO HE MUST HAVE WONDERED "CAN’T YOU AT LEAST GET ME OUT OF JAIL?"
BUT, JESUS WASN’T A MILITARY MESSIAH, BUT THE SPIRITUAL MESSIAH WHO WOULD SAVE THEM FROM THEIR SINS. JESUS WAS PROVING THAT TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
YES, JESUS WAS, INDEED, “THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME.” WHAT JOHN DIDN’T REALIZE AT THE TIME WAS THAT THIS WAS JUST THE FIRST COMING OF JESUS CHRIST. THIS FIRST COMING OF JESUS IN FLESH WAS CHRIST IN GRACE AND MERCY. THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS IN SPIRIT AS THE PRINCE OF PEACE WOULD BE THE ERA OF JUDGMENT THAT JOHN HAD EXPECTED.
IN THIS ADVENT SEASON OF “EXPECTATIONS” AND OF ONCE AGAIN, “WAITING FOR JESUS TO COME AGAIN,” ARE WE FINDING OURSELVES, LIKE JOHN, CONFUSED OR EVEN DISAPPOINTED BY WHAT YOU WERE EXPECTING OF AND WAITING FOR IN JESUS?
YOU MAY BE STILL ASKING: WHY DO PRAYERS CONTINUE TO GO UNANSWERED? WHY DO LOVED ONES STUBBORNLY REFUSE THE GOSPEL DESPITE MY PLEAS? WHY IS MY LIFE’S ROUTINE NOTHING BUT DOCTOR VISITS, PROCEDURES AND SURGERIES…WHY CAN’T I BE WELL? WHY WON’T GOD HEAL ME AND TAKE THE PAIN AWAY?
WE HAVE ALL CRIED OUT IN MANY WAYS IN FRUSTRATION AT WHY GOD DOESN’T MOVE IN THE WAYS WE EXPECT OR HOPED. WE SOMETIMES EVEN GET ANGERED AT THE SILENCE FROM HEAVEN.
OUR SOCIETY DOES NOT TAKE WAITING AND SILENCE VERY WELL. WE LIVE IN A CULTURE WHERE PEOPLE EXPECT TO HAVE THEIR NEEDS AND WANTS IMMEDIATELY GRANTED WHICH IS WHY UNSOLVED PROBLEMS ARE SEEN AS UNNACCEPTABLE.
BUT, IT IS ALSO JUST AS UNACCEPTABLE, IF NOT ABSURD, TO THINK THAT WE CAN UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE GOD DEADLINES TO WORK UNDER. GOD’S WAYS ARE ALWAYS “ETERNAL” BASED AND BEYOND OUR FULL COMPREHENSION.
ISAIAH 55:8-9“MY THOUGHTS ARE NOTHING LIKE YOUR THOUGHTS,” SAYS THE LORD. AND MY WAYS ARE FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU COULD IMAGINE. FOR JUST AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN YOUR THOUGHTS.”
THE BIBLE SHOWS US THROUGH EXAMPLES HOW WAITING ON GOD AND HOW HE WILL COME INTO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES IS ALWAYS PERFECT AND GOOD EVEN WHEN WE CAN’T SEE IT. HE WILL SHOW US HOW HE WORKS, HOW HE WILL CHOOSE TO REVEAL HIMSELF AND ON WHAT TERMS HE WILL ACT. EACH AND EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS IS PERFECT, HOLY, JUST, AND BLESSED.
I THINK OF THE DISCIPLES ON THEIR BOAT IN THE FURY OF A STORM FILLED WITH WAVES AND SEVERE WINDS. THEY NEARLY CAPSIZE AND FEAR FOR THEIR LIFE AND OF ALL THINGS, JESUS IS SOUND ASLEEP. HE COULD HAVE CALMED THE STORM BEFORE THEY NEARLY DIED, BUT JESUS WAITED FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO COME INTO THEIR SITUATION TO CALM THE STORM.
ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE IS HOW JESUS RESPONDED TO MARY AND MARTHA DURING THE ILLNESS OF LAZARUS. JESUS DID NOT DROP EVERYTHING AND RUN TO THE FAMILY. IN FACT, HE WAITED TWO DAYS BEFORE HE EVEN STARTED TRAVELING. LAZARUS DIES AND IT TAKES JESUS FOUR DAYS TO SHOW UP.
HUMANLY SPEAKING, I AM SURE THEY WERE QUITE UNNERVED AT WHAT SEEMED LIKE DISCONCERN FOR THEIR SITUATION. JUST LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, I’M SURE MARY, MARTHA, AND ANY ONE OF THE DISCIPLES SCARED TO DEATH IN THAT STORM ON THE SEA AT SOME POINT WANTED TO ASK “ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE THE MESSIAH?”
LAMENTATIONS 3:25-26 SAYS, “THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHO DEPEND ON HIM, TO THOSE WHO SEARCH FOR HIM. SO IT IS GOOD TO WAIT QUIETLY FOR THE LORD TO SAVE.” PSALM 40:1 “I WAITED PATIENTLY FOR THE LORD; HE TURNED TO ME AND HEARD MY CRY.”
IN THIS ADVENT SEASON, MAY WE REALIZE TODAY THAT WE NOT ONLY ANTICIPATE THE COMING AGAIN OF JESUS, BUT CONSIDER CHRIST’S OWN ADVENT THAT HE WISHES THAT WE COME TO HIM FOR A PERSONAL, INTIMATE, LOVING RELATIONSHIP THAT ENCOMPASSES THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE DISILLUSIONMENT AND ANYTHING THAT MAKES IT SEEM THAT HEAVEN IS SILENT.
DO YOU REALIZE THAT OVER 50 PSALMS OF THE 150 WRITTEN ARE RELATED TO LAMENTS? THESE RESPONSES TO HEARTACHE AND REAL-LIFE CRISES COMPRISE THE LARGEST GROUP OCCURRING MORE THAN PRAISE, CREATION, WISDOM, OR LITURGICAL PSALMS!
THAT MEANS WE HAVE THE WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF GOD’S PEOPLE WHO ARE WRESTLING WITH HIM, POURING OUT THEIR TROUBLES AND FRUSTRATIONS. AS IT HAS BEEN SAID,“WHEN WE CAN NO LONGER PRAY AS WE SHOULD, WE SIMPLY PRAY AS WE CAN.”
WHATEVER IT MAY BE THAT IS CHALLENGING YOU THIS SEASON THAT IS CAUSING PAIN, CONFUSION, DISILLUSIONMENT TO THE POINT OF WANTING TO CRY OUT “JESUS, ARE YOU REALLY THE MESSIAH OR SHOULD I BE SEEKING AFTER A DIFFERENT ONE?,”
LET THE CHRIST OF THE ADVENT COME TO YOU ONCE AGAIN IN THE FULL ASSURANCE OF HIS OWN WORDS TO MOSES AS PASSED ON TO JOSHUA IN DEUTERONOMY 31:6 “SO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! DO NOT BE AFRAID AND DO NOT PANIC BEFORE THEM. FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL PERSONALLY GO AHEAD OF YOU. HE WILL NEITHER FAIL YOU NOR ABANDON YOU.”
JUST REMEMBER: JESUS HAD WOUNDS AND SCARS, JUST AS WE DO. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT WHEN JESUS RECEIVED HIS THE FATHER TURNED HIS EYES AWAY BECAUSE HE COULD NOT LOOK UPON THE SINS HEAPED UPON HIS SON. FOR A MOMENT IN TIME, JESUS WAS SUSPENDED UPON THE CROSS…NOT IN HEAVEN NOR TOUCHING THE EARTH. ALL ALONE, SUSPENDED, SUFFERING AND ABANDONED.
JESUS KNOWS TRUE ABANDONMENT AND HAS VOWED TO NEVER ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN TO US. HE HAS REVEALED TO US THAT YES, I AM YOUR MESSIAH! YOU DON’T NEED TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER! I AM THE ONE WHO HAS COME! LET US RENEW OUR CONFIDENCE TODAY THAT JESUS IS WHO HE SAID HE IS: MESSIAH, KING-OF-KINGS, LORD-OF-LORDS AND THE COMING PRINCE OF PEACE.
