Help For The DiscouragedSample

John is, indeed, having a dungeon experience.

“ARE YOU THE ONE or am I completely off base?”

“I mean, I thought you were, I think you might be, but… It’s so dark and lonely down here. This is radically different from what I imagined. I’m just not sure anymore.” 

Can you relate? John needs A STRAIGHT UP ANSWER. 

“Are You the One?”

Jesus offers John’s messengers an answer in Matthew 11:4-5. They are to report what they see and hear from Jesus. He doesn’t answer like John wanted, does he? Ever been there before?

“Should I keep going? Maybe I should put it on the shelf? Do I confront? Is it time to quit? Should I stop thinking about this possibility altogether? Lord, I need to know!”

John’s answer does not arrive in a tidy “yes” or “no” format, but it is conclusive. Jesus calls John to consider how he recognized the Messiah in the first place. What did the Word of God say the Messiah would do? How would the people know when they found Him (Isaiah 61:1)?

John was having difficulty seeing truth in the midst of discouragement. Sound familiar? What you thought was going to happen is not jiving with your reality? You begin to question your ability to discern God’s voice in your life? Did you just make the whole thing up?

Jesus then does something precious. He adds this onerous line (Matthew 11:6):

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

The Revised Version adds, 

“but exhibits perfect trust under delay and disappointment.”

It’s as if Jesus is saying, “John, blessed is the one who is not offended by me but considers what I am doing compared to what the Scriptures declare the Messiah WILL DO and keeps the faith! Trust that you can hear your God under delay and utter disappointment even in a dungeon for your faithfulness, because you will be blessed if you do!”

Sometimes God meets us in our need just like John. In the middle of our discouragement or disappointment of how we thought our life should measure up, God lifts our eyes to a greater calling. Positively Jesus met John in his dungeon experience and restored him to believe again. 

When you are having a dungeon experience, let Him meet you right there. God can restore your hope and lift your eyes to believe again, too.