Out of the Blue

The unexpected and unforeseen comes suddenly into all of our lives. What recently happened out of the blue in your life?

A mother buckled her eleven month old baby in the car seat last week but before they arrived at their destination she hit a patch of ice and lost control of her car; her baby was killed in the accident. A family loses their home through foreclosure because of a lack of work. A father and mother discovered that their unmarried daughter was pregnant. A husband confesses an affair to his wife. A drug addiction separates three children from their parents and sends shock waves throughout their extended family.

These are some of the things that have surprised people I know; good people who love God. When unanticipated events come into our lives it often fills our hearts with questions.

John the Baptist loved God too. He answered God’s call upon his life and preached repentance; furthermore John pointed the way to the One who would come after him, God’s promised Messiah, the Savior.

John’s preaching ministry came to a sudden end when he was arrested and put in prison. As time passed he questioned God. If Jesus really was the Messiah, then shouldn’t John still be out there preaching and pointing people to Him? John expressed his doubts in a question sent to Jesus; “Are you the one or should we look for someone else?”

[4] Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: [5] The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. [6] Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Matthew 11:4-6 (NIV)

John’s problem was much like ours. When the unexpected happens we often become self-centered and wonder why God has let us down. Will God come through for us, or should we look elsewhere?

Jesus answer didn’t solve John’s problem; in fact John would die in prison. Instead Jesus told John to stop focusing on his problems and look what God was doing.

Shouldn’t we learn to do the same? When we see what Jesus is doing all around us, then we can have faith to endure anything . . . even if God does nothing to change our circumstances. With an external focus, our faith in God continues to grow bigger than anything that comes out of the blue.