6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
The context of this passage is the remarkable crisis of faith that John the Baptist is having. John is confined in prison and he is hearing of the marvealous miracles that Jesus is performing. He is stuck there for preaching righteousness. His expectation is that Jesus, his cousin would any day now find a way to get him released, but that day does not come. And as he sits in his confinement his world becomes really small. Even though he grew up with Jesus and knew emphatically of his heavenly origin from the begining of his life, he still questioned if Jesus was the "one". John was the first spiritual leader to announce that Jesus was the Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His ministry was to make the path clear for the holy one of God. He preached repentance so that the people would be able to recognize the Messiah when his time was full. Jesus even declared that John was the greatest man ever and with all that John still wavered in his faith. How comforting it is to me to know that my waverings are not uncommon to even the personal eyewitness and family member of Jesus himself.
We are blessed when we continue in our faith even when God does not move in the way we expect Him to. God's ways are higher than our ways so it is important to remember that we do not have all the pieces of the puzzle as God does so we need to be able to trust Him and not our own understanding. His big picture view will always be a more adventageous perspective, so we need to rest in Him.
APPLICATION
To cultivate a loose grip on my personal plans and defer to "if it be the will of the Lord" mode.
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