February 28

Do you think John the Baptist felt abandoned by God as the axe fell?

The list of people in Scripture who were prominent with no mention of being personally flawed is quite short. Noah got drunk as soon as he got off of the ark, Abraham lied about his wife being his sister to save himself and don't forget Hagar, David was an adulterer and murderer...the Apostle Paul mis-judged John Mark...the list keeps going. But where do we find any mention of John the Baptist being a disappointment? I am not suggesting that he was perfect as that rests with Christ alone; however, his prominence and his reputation together put him on a very,very short list. Which brings us back to his final moments, as the axe fell, did he feel betrayed by God? Where was God when he needed Him most? Come on, if I were writing the story, how about as the axe fell, Herod's head actually fell away and the axe supernaturally passed through John without harming him!

I don't believe that thought ever entered his mind. What made John the Baptist great was his heart of total deference to His Creator, His Heavenly Father. When we rest in His sovereignty, we are at peace with our circumstances. God, help us to be unwavering in our devotion even when the perception of the onlooker is one of our being abandoned by the God we serve. As John himself said, if in my decreasing, the fame of Christ increases, I am the one who eternally gains, even in my temporal demise.

Pastor Fred