In our walk with God, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are mere mortals saved and empowered by grace. Those who arrogate the power and capabilities of God to themselves end up being disappointed when faced with the reality of their own limitations and inadequacies. Such people find it hard to forgive themselves when they make mistakes, and this is a dangerous place to be in. Those who remain down after falling from grace are, more often than not, those who can’t forgive themselves for the errors they made. We must always remember that we need Jesus as our all in all. He Himself said that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:50). As we go through life, things will happen that might shake our faith, but what is important is that our faith remains unmoved. Some of those who have gone ahead of us also had their faith shaken, but it is because they remained unmoved that we celebrate them as heroes of faith today. One of such persons was John the Baptist.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist confidently announced the arrival of the Lamb of God, the Messiah, who would take away the sins of humanity; thus bringing an end to four hundred years of silence in the prophetic realm in Israel. He clearly knew who he was and what he was talking about. Many of those who heard his declarations about Jesus Christ believed him and followed Jesus, including some of his own disciples (John 1:35-42). However, in Matthew 11:1-11, we see a sobering turn of events in his life. This same John the Baptist was asking if Jesus was the Messiah! Prior to this, he had been cast into prison and faced the risk of being executed. While in prison, he heard of the mighty works Jesus was doing, which pointed to the fact that He was the long-awaited deliverer of Israel. He therefore expected that Jesus would use His Messianic authority to free him, more so as he was His forerunner. However, for reasons best known to Him, Jesus did not do this, His Kingdom not being of this world (John 18:36). Discouraged and perplexed, John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus whether He really was the Messiah, for Israel’s Saviour would surely not have allowed him remain incarcerated for speaking the truth! John’s faith in Jesus was indeed badly shaken. Nevertheless, knowing what it is to be human, Jesus did not rebuke John; rather, He answered his questions in a way John would understand as a prophet. This steadied his faith to the very end, even as he was beheaded. Is your faith in Christ being shaken? I pray that God will uphold you as you go through that trial of faith today, In Jesus’ Name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.