Do you sometimes feel like you’re in the wrong place? You find yourself in a situation that doesn’t seem to make sense. You’ve been asked to do something that isn’t aligned with the way you thought things would play out. Or perhaps you are waiting for God to lead you down an expected or desired path, but he doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry.
This morning, as I read Matthew, chapter 3, my heart was drawn to verse 15:
Jesus answered: “Accept that it be this way for now. For this is how we will accomplish what God considers to be right.”
(I translated this from my French version, La Bible du Semeur, because I like the way it’s worded.)
John the Baptist, wearing clothes woven from camel hair and living on a diet of locusts and wild honey, knew his calling. He understood his place in this world (throwback to Michael W. Smith).
His job was to prepare the way for Jesus. He was to preach repentance (see previous post) and tell people the long-awaited Messiah was near. He fulfilled this calling dutifully, faithfully and with conviction.
When Jesus comes, John recognizes who he is, and this causes a problem for him. A few verses earlier, we see how John viewed himself in comparison to Jesus. He says to the crowd, “But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am, so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals.”
We can understand why, when John sees Jesus next in line to be baptized, he becomes conflicted. “You should be baptizing me, Jesus. Not the other way around!”
Back to my earlier question, we too, like John, can find ourselves conflicted about where we are at a certain point in our lives. We can become confused when God allows certain things that we thought weren’t supposed to happen that way. Even as we faithfully go about our daily lives and follow Jesus, we can get tripped up when circumstances don’t quite align with what we had simply thought or assumed would be our reality.
Jesus understood that submitting to John’s baptism was part of the path the Father had placed before him, even if John could not yet understand it.
It was 37 months ago that God graciously restored my faith. As I’ve shared here, it has since been a journey of restoration and renewal. One of the areas where I needed healing was with regard to the local church. I had gone from being a pastor, fully engaged in the day-to-day life of the church, to being completely disconnected and disengaged. On this side of healing, I am in the process of reconnecting with church life and figuring out what that looks like. It feels very strange not to know how when you were once so deeply rooted in it.
All that to say, one of my conversations with God these days is around this whole question. Will I ever be able to use my gifts again in the context of the local church? Am I supposed to be where I am? My questions might not be the same as John’s, and neither might yours, but there are still questions. There is still a wondering. Is this it? If not, I don’t see the path forward.
This is where Jesus’ response to John went straight to my heart this morning: “Accept that it be this way for now. For this is how we will accomplish what God considers to be right.”
Jesus wasn’t inviting John into passivity. This is not accepting in the sense of throwing in the towel. It’s not a “fine, whatever” sort of accepting. It’s fully embracing what is in front of you now, trusting that God is doing what is good.
What might that look like for you today?