When You Forget What God Said

Have you ever been in a season where God’s promises become a faint memory? Do you find yourself in a season where your heart is filled with doubt and questions? I know I have, and we see John the Baptist go through something similar in the Bible. John the Baptist was imprisoned for questioning King Herod’s illicit marriage to his brother’s wife Herodias. We don’t know how many days or months, or perhaps even years John was in prison but we know it wasn’t a pleasant experience. In Matthew 11:2-3, John sends out his disciples to check and see if Jesus Christ of Nazareth is actually the Messiah.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? (Matthew 11:2-3, ESV)

Is this not the same John who baptized Jesus a few chapters ago? The same John who witnessed the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove? The same John who heard God’s voice from Heaven during the baptism saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to Him’? (Matthew 3:17). The same John who literally spent his entire life preparing the way for the Messiah? Surely, something was wrong here. At this point in time, John appeared to have forgotten what God said. The very words he heard God speak concerning Jesus during the baptism (‘This is my beloved Son’) were no longer words he recognized.

Discouragement. That’s what happened to John. He became discouraged. When discouragement takes a hold of our hearts, God’s promises become a faint memory. A popular quote says, ‘remember in the light what God said in the dark’. All of us will go through seasons that simply don’t make sense to us. Seasons of waiting, pain and trials. Just like John, we may begin to ask questions from a place of doubt. We sometimes ask questions about issues we already have answers to and we doubt the answers we held on to. In spite of John’s wavering faith about the person of Jesus, take note that John directed his questions to Jesus. Jesus was the right person John needed to take his questions to. What can we learn here? In the midst of discouragement, don’t communicate your storm to the wrong people. They will only drag you down and provide you with false temporal relief. Instead, take it to the Lord and to those who will only direct you to Him.

See Christ’s response to John’s questions in Matthew 11:4-5, ESV

4 ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus is quoting the prophecy in Isaiah 35:5; “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” Jesus is pointing John back to the scriptures. John would certainly have been familiar with all the old testament scriptures that talk about the Messiah. Why did Christ quote the scriptures to John? Simple, because when we are discouraged in the midst of our circumstances we need to be directed back to the promises in the scriptures so our faith can be revived.

“The remedy for discouragement is the Word of God. When you feed your heart and mind with its truth, you regain your perspective and find renewed strength’’
-Warren Wiersbe

Also take note that after John’s disciples went away, Jesus began to praise John even in the midst of his discouragement. He doesn’t rebuke John for asking questions in the midst of discouragement. Why? Take a look at Psalm 103:14, ESV “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust“. According to Christ ‘among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist’. This is to show you what kind of man John was! He was the ‘voice of one who cries in the wilderness….prepare the way for the Messiah’. Notice that in Christ’s response to John, there is not a hint of ‘How dare John question who I am? He of all people should know who I am!’.

We are weak as humans. When you are discouraged don’t allow the devil’s condemning voice to lie to you that you have failed and disappointed God for being discouraged. Discouragement is one of Satan’s old-time weapons. But we are in Christ. When discouragement rocks your heart, take it back to the Lord. Our society is advanced today because people refused to give up on their dreams. Think of the invention of the lightbulb and the trials and errors made during the development of many life-saving medicines that we have access to today. Discouragement would most certainly have been a part of the journey. But dreamers of these inventions always fell back on the promise of the final product, and this is what kept them going.

The lies of discouragement will always bow to the truth in God’s word. -When You Forget What God Said #prunedlife Click To Tweet

Throughout the book of Genesis, we see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob set up altars in the places where God speaks to them. I believe these pillars were not only to honour God but they were set up as a reminder. These reminders enabled them to hold on to God’s promises when the circumstances around them gave them reasons to forget God’s promises. Follow the steps of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and take note of the times God speaks to you and reveals things to you. Find a way to easily refer back to them. I’m a notebook person, so I actually write these things down and take note of the date, place and time. Nonetheless, beyond setting up altars, pillars, and reminders, we have the Bible; God’s words. It is the best weapon to defeat discouragement. Hold on to it. The lies of discouragement will always bow to the truth in God’s word.

If you are discouraged, be encouraged by Isaiah 41:10, ESV:

fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

I pray that discouragement will not consume our hearts and that the Holy Spirit will teach us to remember God’s promises to us. Amen.