Dealing with Doubt Part III The conclusion

I.                 The Key to Contentment                      “blessed is He…”    

It is at this point that the story takes a turn. We enjoy studying about Christ and His power to
intervene in our lives, but what happens when he does not? John may have had His mind eased
by the message of His disciples, but His circumstances did not improve. Yes John, Jesus is the
Messiah, but you ain’t getting out of that cell. If I may differ from the name it and claim it
theologians I want you to see the whole issue clearly. God does have the power to get you out of
whatever problem you have, but He is not obligated to. I feel the need to depart from the study
on doubt long enough to clear something up. To knock you off of the pedestal you may have
placed yourself on. I have been asked many times how I maintain such deep seated beliefs, and
such close ties and friendships with those in other denominations. To put it simply, I came to
grips with one fact. Put everything aside and get this if you do not learn anything else. God has
bound Himself to His Word by His choice, But God is never bound by my theology. Much
like this God is not bound to move in any particular way when it regards a circumstance in our
lives. God is still in the healing business, but He is not mandated by anything he said, to heal
you. God has certainly made certain promises in his word. Some of these have conditions placed
on them, and some are unconditional. God always keeps His promises. God has promised to
meet our needs. The problem is that in our society we have confused need with greed. We can
question why God would choose to allow such a great man as John to meet with such an end. It
really doesn’t seem fair does it? We certainly do not know the mind of God, and some things He
does are beyond comprehension. In John’s case one thing is clear. His mission was over and the
Lord would soon call Him home. It is not so clear for the rest of us. Much of what we go through
is simply punishment for sin and or simply stepping out of His will by misreading what he wants
for us. We know that God always supplies exactly what we need to be able to do exactly what he
wants. It is not what we want. It is not always what we think He wants. It is pure and simply
what He wants, with nothing more and nothing less. We certainly miss out on the supply by not
doing the will of God.  Sometimes God allows us to endure some things in order to teach us, and
prepare us for something special. To say that experience is the best teacher may be a little
overblown but it is true anyway. I remember hearing Dr. E.V. Hill talking about the evangelism
committees at His church. They’d divided up the circumstances which people live under and
formed specialized teams to do evangelism. He said, “ now, you can’t be on my hooker
committee unless you used to be a hooker.” There is something to be said about the connection
of like experiences. It is easy for a rich man to say, “you hang in there, the Lord will meet your
need.” It’s easy cause He has no clue what you are going through. The picture looks pretty bleak
now. We have come from understanding our doubt, to seeing that God is still powerful enough to
meet your need, to now reconciling the idea that he does not have to. What does all this really
mean? What are we to make of it all, and how do we find solace in Christ, without knowing for
sure that what we ask of him is going to happen? The greatest happiness comes in understanding
Jesus’ next statement. “Go tell John……..And blessed is He who is not offended because of Me.”
Vance Havner has called this the forgotten beatitude. We understand that blessed in The New
Testament means “Happy”. Where is the happiness in what we call needs that go un-met. Where
is the happiness in the worry that life is falling apart. I myself have seen when God paid the bill
by seemingly miraculous sources, and I have seen when he didn’t. Paul in chapter 4 of
Philippians noted that he had learned contentment, with whatever state he was in. he went on to
say that he knew how to abound and to suffer need. If I may indulge to simply put the passage
into laymen’s paraphrase, Jesus said, “ Blessed is the man who doesn’t get upset by the way I run
My business.” You see it truly is His business. If you are a child of God, then you are His
business.

A.)         Realizing whose we are

We as human beings accept things, even bad things much better if we can reconcile the
reason for it. We as Christians must come to grips with God’s Sovereignty. To take Sovereignty
a step further, we need to realize that God owns us. We belong to Him. I Corinthians 6:20 and
7:23 reveals to us that we have been bought with a price. Jesus Christ shed his blood in the
payment for our sins and to purchase our redemption. He is mine, but I also am His. The truth is
that His ownership of us allows Him do use us in any manner he sees fit. He can do with us as
He wishes. I cannot forget the times when my son was small and I would not let Him do
something He wanted to do. He had the same response every time. _____gets to do it. My
response was pat as well. He’s not mine, You are and I said no. We command our children when
they are little. We expect them to do as we say. Like children many times we find ourselves un-
appreciative of the direction God might send us in. Like a parent though God will never send us
in a direction that will end up in our harm. Even in those things that we might consider
unanswered prayers, we find God’s hand, simply raising us up to be what He wants. One of the
greatest blessings of my life came at the death of my mother. She had a rapidly growing brain
tumor. She had reconciled herself to the fate that God would bring. It had been a very stressful
time for all of us, but especially for one aunt. She held from the beginning that God was going to
heal her sister. She even took it as far as accusing any who would listen of not doing enough in
seeking extreme treatments, that mom didn’t want. The night Mom died, we all filed slowly out
of the room. My aunt said, “I just think God could have healed her if…” My best friend was
there and interrupted with, “He just did.” What better healing than to fall asleep peacefully here
on earth and wake up in Glory. The bottom line is that She belonged to God and it was not my
business or anyone else’s when or how he chose to deal with her. He certainly did not do any
harm to her in the end. Understanding that we belong to God brings comfort in that He does meet
the needs of his children. It brings comfort in that, when he allows unpleasant things into our
lives, he is doing it for our good in the end.    

B.)         Realizing what we are

Besides being children, the relationship between us and Christ is that of a servant. It is good
to remember that Christ did not save us simply for our own good but also to serve him. Notice
closely Paul’s writing to the Roman 12:1. “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of
God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy. Acceptable, unto God, which is your
reasonable service.”  Two things ring out here. One thing is that this is our service to Him. The
other is that it is reasonable. God has never asked to do that which we are unable to do. He calls
us into service and blesses our efforts only when they are for Him. The Apostle Paul was so
absorbed in servant=hood that he began most of his writing with the same salutation, “Paul a
servant of Jesus Christ..” Paul spent more of His time speaking of our responsibilities to god tan
he did any other subject. He certainly entertained the struggles of life, and the promises of God,
but His focus was in service. Actually when we consider our own psychological make-up, then
God has once again met a need in our lives. Service in and of itself is a basic human need that
sits deep in the heart of man. A wise man once said, that there were three basic needs we have.
These things are, someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward too.  Did you
know that  being hated is not the saddest state a man can find himself in. The worst state we can
find ourselves in is insignificance. We all need to matter to somebody. I once saw a sign in a
funeral home that said, “ Your legacy will be determined by who notices that your gone.” We
celebrate the supremacy of  God and that he has called us to be servants. Jesus said, “ A disciple
is not above His teacher, nor a servant above His master.” (Matthew 10:24) He continues to
explain the goal of the disciple becoming like the teacher and the servant like the master. We do
the same thing with our children whether intend to or not. How many times have you heard or
even said, “ He’s just like his father.” I serving Christ, and doing that which he called us to do,
we become more like Him. In service to Him we also see His work in and through our lives.
When we see His work in and through our lives it gives evidences that strengthen us and in turn
conquer doubt. When the moving of God is not evident in our lives, it is not God with the
problem. Servant-hood fulfills the need in our lives to be needed and opens the door to
possibilities we never dreamed of. It has been said of George Muller that he prayed one million
dollars form God without ever asking man for a dime. When coming out of His church, and
being heart broken by the orphans one the street. He made a promise to God, that if he would
supply the need he would feed those orphans. Shortly thereafter He became the founder of the
Ashley Downs orphanage in Bristol England, which still exists today. He had a burden for a
particular area of service, and God blessed it. He had His own need met when he first had the
heart of a servant. I wonder if Muller ever doubted God, at least after seeing what God had done.  
I wonder if he ever doubted His own abilities, after seeing how that God had blessed Him.
Hebrews 11 show us how that through weaknesses we are made strong. Certainly it would do us
well to not be offended by How Christ chooses to run His business. I like to say that God never
asks for my opinion before he makes a decision, even when it’s about me.  

      Conclusion:

John found himself in such dire straits that he began to question the very things He had
confessed publically. We too allow the pressures of this world and society’s expectations to
weigh us down. Satan is the driving force behind it. It is His effort to stifle the movement of God
in our lives. He desires to destroy our testimony, and prevent others from believing. We can if
we will, overcome these insecurities, and become a force in God’s kingdom. Whether we can
rejoice in victory or we remain suppressed for some reason only God knows, He is still God.
Whether the source of our doubt is the fault of circumstances or our own sin, he is still in control.