Harvest Daily 11/16/04
Harvest Daily Devotional
by Pastor Greg Laurie
November 16
When Your Faith Falters
"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." - Luke 7:22-23
Not long after Herod had John the Baptist arrested and imprisoned, John began to doubt who Jesus was. You see, John probably thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman government and establish His kingdom right then and there. But no such thing happened. So John's doubt took over and he sent a message to Jesus, asking, " 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?' " (Luke 7:20). John's faith did not falter because God failed him. He doubted because he failed to understand God's purpose and plan.
Failing to understand God's purpose and plan is often the reason that believers experience lapses of faith. Our faith falters not because God has been inconsistent, or unfaithful, or because God has broken His promises. We experience lapses of faith because we have a false perception of what God is supposed to accomplish. Our expectations of God are not pure. We offer our prayers to Him and expect Him to answer with exact precision. And when God doesn't come through like we asked Him to, we - like John - can doubt who God is.
John the Baptist's problem was that he did not understand God's will. But he did something right, he looked to Jesus for the answers and received the hope he needed (see Luke 7:2-23). Maybe you are experiencing a lapse of faith much like John the Baptist. If so, don't despair. Look past your expectations and disappointments, and look unto Jesus. Seek His purpose and His plan,[JMB2] recognizing it will far exceed your greatest hopes and dreams.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
