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Unmet Expectations

"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Matthew 11:3

John didn't deserve imprisonment in a filthy dungeon. After all, he was the forerunner of the Messiah and the voice of repentance in the community; plus he was Jesus' cousin! So, he sent a message to Jesus asking, "Are you really the Messiah or should we keep looking?" Paraphrased: "When are you going to get me out of here?" It was a human question motivated by unmet expectations. Have you ever been there? Have you ever wondered, "Where's God when I'm hurting?" And it feels even worse when you're working for Him! Writing about her daughter's death, Meg Woodson says: "I'll never forget those shrill, piercing screams; that the God who could have helped, looked down on this young woman who was devoted to Him, and decided to sit on His hands and let her death top the horror charts." Talk about unmet expectations! The Jesus who walked on water, cast out demons and raised the dead could easily have saved John. But He didn't. Instead He sent back word, which, in essence, said, "Don't worry, everything's on target. The Kingdom is being built; you fulfilled your assignment well" (See Matthews 11:4-5). It probably wasn't the answer John hoped for or expected. He was looking for solutions to temporal problems, while Jesus was busy establishing an eternal kingdom. So, next time God doesn't seem to meet your expectations or time frames, it's not that He doesn't care, it's that He sees the big picture, and is handling issues you can't begin to comprehend. So trust Him!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to accept I don’t have to know everything that you are doing in building your Kingdom, help me rest in knowing that you have not forgoten me in that Kingdom! In Jesus' Name, Amen