In every catastrophe, heroes emerge. In every lousy situation, blessings and miracles are realized. Sometimes, however, we are so bogged down in the mire that we can only see and feel the heartache.

We often have days, weeks, years, or seemingly, lifetimes, of these emotional rollercoasters where we can see the best and worst happening simultaneously. We revel in relationships only to lose those that we love. Health becomes a thing that must be navigated, and overcome, or we completely succumb to its dictation over our life. Loved ones in such unmitigated pain that you wonder how they are pushing forward. Children taken from families at way too early of an age. Mental health creating irrational and unhealthy lifestyles for those you are closest to.

When we look at the flip side of the coin, we see that we have experienced love and friendship with those that we ache for. These relationships are miracles in and of themselves. We lament loss of health because we have experienced a vibrance in that area, so we know what we are missing. Chronic pain is a reminder that it once was not there. Seeing those fighting mental battles shows us that when we can think clearly, it is put upon us to use that gift wisely. Whether you have faith in an Almighty, Sovereign God, or not, these dichotomies exist. When we do have faith in The Almighty, we have someone to question. The name alone says that He is a God who will not be rocked off the throne when we ask these questions, throw rocks at Him in anger, or turn our back on Him altogether because our finite mind doesn’t understand His infinite one. Yet, He calls us to faith. He reminds us we aren’t alone. He points us to our hope of heaven. Of victory. Of rest.

In the book of Matthew, John the Baptizer’s disciples come to Jesus with a message from John. From prison. He wants to know if Jesus is actually “the one to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:2-3

Let’s review who John is. He is the one who preached for his whole life the hope that a Messiah would come who would save sinners from their sins! Then John saw heaven open and the Holy Spirit land on Jesus. He heard a voice from heaven say “This is my Son!” He heard about the miracles Jesus was doing. He saw people leave him to follow Jesus and he REJOICED. “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:28-30) This is the guy that Jesus described as “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:11

Then prison happened. And John asked questions. John himself was a fulfillment of prophecy but showed signs of fear and frustration. But he knew who to ask. He sent messengers straight to Jesus. Jesus didn’t berate him for asking but rather affirmed John’s faith and encouraged him by focusing John on WHO HE WAS – the Son of God, prophesied from old. This encouragement served to help John dig in.  Jesus didn’t change John’s circumstances. As a matter of fact, things got worse for John. Or did they? He ended up receiving the reward and all of the accouterments of heaven with God Almighty!

On this earth, the best we will have is a dim view of God, even when we are at our highest high of exultation. He promises that it gets even better! Sin is present in the world and it competes for our hearts. It seeks to extinguish the “Light of Life” that Jesus is. Darkness comes in lots of forms but we are told “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness HAS NOT overcome it.” John 1:5

If John, the prophecy-fulfilling prophet asked questions about Jesus’s presence and wasn’t chastised but rather encouraged by Jesus, this should give us hope to follow suit in the times we cannot see past our achy heartbreak.

Go to Jesus. He will remind us who He is. He will remind us we are not alone. He will remind us “that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus …Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all…since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:14-18