Did I Hear You Right?
Did I Hear You Right?
Taking his shoulders in both hands and him square in the eyes, I said, “Don’t buy the 90-calorie bars. The regular granola bars. OK? Okay.”
Guess what? We now have a warehouse club sized box of…..90-calorie granola bars.
Shocked at my dismay, my husband asks, “Did I hear you right? You said to be sure and buy 90-calorie bars, didn’t you?”
We all do it. We think we hear the conversation correctly, and then, we are surprised when things aren’t going according to our expectations. We question the situation and make decisions and opinions based on our own point of view.
We are not the first, nor will we be the last, to wonder, “Did I hear you right?”
One of the greatest prophets in Scripture asked that same question, albeit in different words.
Matthew 11:2-4 “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’”
Did I hear you right?
Less than two months earlier, John announced to the crowds that there was One coming who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11b-12). In the Gospel of John (the disciple, not the Baptist) he tells us that John the Baptist bore witness to the Messiahship of Jesus; that he saw the Spirit in the form of a dove descend from heaven and remain on Jesus.
John saw.
John 1:33, “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” God the Father sent John to baptize and spoke to him regarding how to identify the Messiah. John heard.
John the Baptist confirms this witness of the Coming One when he said, “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34)
Does it surprise you that in less than sixty days after hearing, seeing and touching Jesus, John is now asking, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
Did I hear You right?
Before we judge John too harshly, let’s remember that things were not going according to his expectations. John had just preached that the One to Come had His winnowing fork in His hand and was about to clean house! The Coming One was going to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire! John had preached both the good news and the not so good news. He expected the righteous judgement of the Messiah to be immediate. Instead, the Messiah was not in the city of the King casting judgment, but was instead miles away, healing, helping and saving people. Jesus was not where John thought He would be, nor was Jesus doing what John thought He would, or dare I say should, be doing at this time.
Maybe John had misunderstood? John began to wonder if he had heard right.
When things aren’t going how I think they would, or should, I tend to start second guessing and asking God, “Did I hear You right? I thought You said.........but .........” I tend to assume things will just fall right into place, just as I expect them to be since I am doing what God told me to do. All my God-directed tasks should be easy, timely, and productive. Right? If You told me I should not live by bread alone but by your very Word, I should have plenty of time for my daily Scripture intake, right? If You told me to tell her about Jesus, shouldn’t she come and ask me some questions? If you told me to lead that Bible study, there should be more women in the class, right? If you told me to pursue a Christ-centered speaking ministry, I should have speaking opportunities filling my calendar, right?
Well, that hasn’t happened for me. Has it all fallen right in place for you or do you find yourself wondering if you heard Him right? I think we can find great hope and encouragement in the fact that we are not alone in this battle. One of the greatest prophets ever born, one who witnessed with his eyes, his ears, his hands the very presence of the Trinity also asked God just days later, “Did I hear You right?”
Perhaps when we begin to second guess what we thought we heard, we need to take a pause; be still; look and listen for the work God is doing in us and through us.
Jesus explains to John the Baptist’s two disciples that John did indeed hear Him right! “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me’” (Matthew 11:4-6).
Now, I have not healed anyone who is blind or lame. I haven’t cleansed anyone of leprosy, and I certainly haven’t raised anyone from the dead! Have I? Have you?
Jesus often used physical realities to teach spiritual truths. So, what if we consider each of these healings through a spiritual lens.
The blind see:
Have you ever shared the hope of Jesus Christ with a lost person?
Have you ever helped someone who was blind to their sin break free and see the truth of God’s Word?
You are helping the blind to see.
The lame walk:
Have you ever come along someone who was limping their way through their walk in Christ and strengthen them in their faith and disciplines of godly living, so now they are not just walking, but running the race God has set before them?
You are helping the lame to walk.
The lepers are cleansed:
Many people are living in sin sickness today, isolated and separated from our loving Father. Are you living a life of godliness so that others can see and are drawn to the blessings and beauty of a cleansed life?
Are you sharing with others how they, too, can be cleansed from their sin sickness through a relationship with Jesus Christ?
You are helping the lepers to be cleansed.
The deaf hear:
Many people in our world are listening to the lies of the enemy and are deaf to the truth of Scripture. Are you helping others come to an understanding of God’s Word? Are you speaking truth into the lives of others so they might hear of God’s love for them?
You are helping the deaf to hear.
The dead are raised up:
Broken and lost, dead in their trespasses and sin, is the state of most of the people we encounter each day. Are you sharing the life-giving message of salvation through Jesus Christ? Are you pouring the breath of God’s Word into someone who has given up on this life?
You are helping to raise up the dead.
The poor have the gospel preached to them:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Are you sharing the riches of God’s Kingdom – the true riches – the gospel? Are you sharing the gospel by your words, actions, deeds, activities?
You are preaching the gospel to the poor.
“Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Jesus told the two disciples to tell this statement to John. Gently, Jesus encouraged John to stop second-guessing what he knows to be true just because Jesus wasn’t meeting his expectations. Jesus calls on John to remember what he has seen and heard, because he did hear Him right. He is the One Coming!
Are you hearing and seeing the fruit God is producing through your obedience to His call? The evidence is all around us. Let’s agree, here and now, that we will stop asking, “Did I hear You right?” and we will start looking and listening for the fruit of our obedience to the Coming One.