When God Doesn't Make SenseSýnishorn

Are You My Savior Or Not?

Today, a family of five in the middle of America is without power due to an ice storm. They have to spend savings to eat out and sleep at friends’ houses because they have no way to cook and their house is freezing cold. Also today, a family in the middle of Africa has no power, or savings, or easy way to get food, or ice storm. Another family in America is always living at friends’ houses, or in motels—at least when they’re not on the street. Today, a family in Europe will tragically lose a child to an unexpected disease. In the next 24 hours, in impoverished regions of the world, thousands of children are expected to die due to a lack of food and clean water.

Maybe today, but almost definitely this year, natural disasters will strike and suddenly kill thousands. If God’s existence were determined by His prevention of our world’s pain, then He’d be gone with the next wind strong enough to blow over some power lines in your neighborhood.

We’re not the first ones to let difficulty cause us to doubt whether or not God is who He says He is. John The Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is famous for preaching about the coming of Jesus and proclaiming that he wasn’t even worthy of lacing up Jesus’ dirty sandals. Later, John ended up wrongly imprisoned after spending his whole life for God. In fact, he was put in prison for preaching God’s truth. John was clearly having second thoughts when from prison he wrote to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” John was wanting to be sure that Jesus was truly the Savior that he’d made him out to be. But maybe John was also wondering if Jesus would be the one to come to his prison cell and break him out?

Then, Jesus, who basically called John the Baptist the greatest human to ever live, responded by pointing to some of the miracles He had done, and finished with, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” It’s as if Jesus said, “Look, John, I’m the Savior, but don’t blow your blessing by getting ticked off at me for not saving you from prison.”

In short, Jesus thought John was a stellar human being and a servant of God. Jesus essentially said, “Yes, I am the Savior, and I do saving works.” Then, He didn’t save John from prison, or from getting his head severed for entertainment. What can we take away? Whether or not God diverts your struggle does not determine whether or not He is God. And, proof of how God feels about you might not be happening to you today, but it happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago, on the cross.

Pray: Thank Jesus for what He did on the cross, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how He feels about you.