When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Matthew 11:2-3

Most of us can easily fall into the same trap as John the Baptist as we question our circumstances. We secretly expect our relationships to be healthy, our careers to be headed upward and our lives to be free from problems in general. Am I wrong?

Think about it. John had prepared the way for the coming Messiah. He was the first to announce Jesus when he said to the crowds, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29b). But now, John was sitting in prison and would soon be executed for his bold, unwavering faith and commitment to righteousness. Had he missed something along the way? Wouldn’t the Messiah rescue him from the corrupt politicians?

Jesus wasn’t afraid of the question and didn’t rebuke John. Instead, He answered with evidence of His power to fulfill Scripture as the Messiah and then Jesus spoke to the crowds and said “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11: 11).

We may be impatient in our current circumstances or we may fail to see the big picture, but God has promised to always be with us, not that our lives would be absolutely free from pain. So, let us do as John the Baptist and gain perspective on our own expectations.