Have you ever wondered why, just prior to his martyrdom, John the Baptist seemed to doubt the Messiahship of Jesus? John was the prophet who had boldly announced, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29) How could he falter? Why did he experience such a setback in his faith?

After being imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus saying, "Are you the Coming One or do we look for another?" Jesus responded to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." (Lk. 7:19-23)

There are three primary possibilities. Either John was trying to subtly motivate his followers to shift their attention to Jesus, or he was offended by Jesus’ familiarity with sinners, or John was disturbed that his original vision from God had not been fulfilled. In all honesty, the first option is not really believable, because a prophet who could be so blunt in declaring the sin of Herod would certainly not be intimidated about telling his own devoted disciples they needed to shift their allegiance to the lowly Nazarene.

The second option is possible. John was an extreme ascetic: austere, separated from the world, and given to intense self-mortification. Probably in his mind, the Messiah would have to be even more committed to the same kind of rigorous, self-denying life. Instead, Jesus’ critics claimed He was a "glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Mt. 11:19) The Son of God’s association with "low-life" people made His claims questionable to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Why not John also? In a similar way, we sometimes doubt God’s purposes in our lives when they don’t come "packaged" the way we expect. We need to take God out of the box of our preconceived ideas and just follow His leading—even when it takes us to places and events we do not anticipate.

The third option is probably the correct one. John’s original vision had not come to pass with regard to Jesus’ ministry and purpose. In the beginning John explained concerning Jesus, "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God" (Jn. 1:33-34) That’s it! The sign never happened! Jesus never baptized anyone with the Holy Spirit! During His short earthly sojourn, Jesus healed the sick, cast out devils, delivered the oppressed, forgave sinners and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom—but He never, never prayed over anyone to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

John lapsed in his faith for the same reason many of us do. He expected his vision from God to be fulfilled SOONER than the plan of God dictated. John did actually get it right—Jesus was ordained of the Father to baptize people with the Holy Spirit—but apparently, John did not see the PROCESS that would make this glorious thing happen: the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord—all of which were necessary steps before the Comforter could be sent from heaven to indwell the Lord’s disciples.

This perplexing kind of situation is actually a divine pattern. You might call it God’s normal MO ("mode of operation"). He often shows His chosen ones a glimpse of His future purposes in their lives, then He initiates a lengthy process to get them to that ultimate goal. It almost always involves much more than the participants anticipate. I am sure Joseph expected his dreams to fulfilled overnight. Instead it took 13 years of rejection, betrayal, misrepresentation and a series of disappointments. Abraham probably thought the promised son would come right away. Instead it was 25 years before Sarah was "with child."

So don’t give up. Don’t falter in your faith. Don’t be found sending doubtful, John-the-Baptist-like prayers up to heaven, saying, "Is this what I am supposed to do, or do I look for another plan." If God has spoken to your heart concerning His purposes in your life, CLING to your original vision, even when your mind gets sidetracked. "For the VISION is yet for an appointed time…though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, IT WILL NOT TARRY" (Hab. 2:3).

Mike Shreve 
TBN Interview

ELEMENTS OF VISION

Vision is the ability to think creatively, to tap potential, to explore possibilities in life and in our walk with God. For a believer, it also involves penetrating the future with divine insight and then taking inspired steps toward a God-revealed destiny. The Scripture says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Pr. 29:18) If we are to be history-makers and world-changers, we must wait upon God until vision is awakened in us. (1 CD)

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