Resting While You Wait

By Dean Collins

When you are waiting, it’s easy for your thoughts to run wild. You might imagine the worst-case scenario instead of a hopeful one. You might convince yourself that you were to blame for something, even when there isn’t evidence of that. You might begin to question things you once thought were certain. You might even doubt things you have seen.

John the Baptist was having that kind of a moment as he waited in Herod’s prison. We don’t really know if John the Baptist thought he would be released or killed, though he must have thought about how his life would end. What we do know is that as he sat in prison, he began to think about his encounter with Jesus and why things were progressing more slowly than he had imagined they would.

Maybe he was questioning the meaning of the things he had seen. Certainly, he replayed the baptism of Jesus in his mind. I imagine he replayed the words of Jesus that he heard at the banks of the Jordan when he had declared that Jesus should be baptizing him and not the other way around. Jesus replied: “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John the Baptist consented and baptized Jesus.

Before John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to question Jesus, he must have replayed the scene over and over when the heavens departed and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

John had been sure that he had been on mission preparing the way for Jesus and that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of God. But when you are waiting and things look bleak or impossible, the mind will sometimes be filled with doubts, questions, and concerns. John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus this one question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

We probably don’t want to admit it, but sometimes when we are stuck waiting on a rescue, an answer, or even healing, this same question might pop up. Of course, we have prayed about it, but when time passes and things haven’t changed as quickly as we had hoped, we might wonder if there is another something or someone who might help us.

Jesus gave a short and clear answer to send back to John the Baptist:

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” 

I suspect in our season of waiting we might want to consider those words from Jesus. Maybe we need to review our history with Jesus and the history of the saints since Jesus said them. Since that day, we know that Jesus continued his ministry which included raising Lazarus from the dead. We know that Jesus himself rose from the dead. We have seen so many times that Jesus has calmed our storms, healed loved ones, and provided for our needs. 

That last sentence that Jesus sent back to John the Baptist is the one we might want to think about: And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Offended by Jesus? Offended in the Greek language means stumbling block. So, an appropriate question might have to do with the timing and methods of Jesus. When Jesus takes longer than we think he should to solve our problems or help us, does that trip us up? We surely know that our ways are not his ways. Can we accept the ways and the timing of Jesus?  

Maybe Matthew’s ending to chapter 11 is exactly what we need as we consider these things.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When we struggle in our waiting, we would do well to remember that all things belong to Jesus. That includes both the when and the what that Jesus has planned for us and for his return. In our weariness and waiting, our best place to be is in his care. It is when we come to Jesus and allow his ways, his yoke to be placed on us, it is there that we will find rest in our waiting and rest for our souls. And there we will not be tripped up but rather blessed in our waiting.

Father, thank you for loving us even when we struggle to understand your timing and your solutions to our current dilemmas. Today we choose to come to you and to trust your methods and your timing. Give us rest as we wait. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; John 1:29-34 ESV

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