“No wisdom, understanding, or advice can stand up against the Lord.”(Proverbs 21:30 CEB)

Have you ever been in the middle of a terrible storm?

Growing up in Michigan we had some doozies. One afternoon I was riding my bike outside when, out of nowhere, the sky went dark. Extreme winds began to howl on all sides of me (think Wizard of Oz just before the twister scoops up Dorothy).

Now I was a pretty good little bicyclist. I could ride no hands, standing on the seat; I even won my share of neighborhood races. But my skills were no match for the weather that day. The winds were so strong (and I was so little) that it was impossible for me to maintain balance. I had to hop off my bike and walk it home.

Sometimes life is that way. No matter how intelligent we are, no matter how prepared, along comes a curveball that disrupts and disorients us. Under the right circumstances, even our faith can be shaken.

“…John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Luke 7:18-19 NRSV).

Apparently when John the Baptist had spent some time in prison he began to doubt Jesus. We can only guess what John’s expectations were of “the one who [was] to come.” Maybe he expected someone who would reclaim autonomy on behalf of the Jewish people, maybe even challenge the sovereignty of the Roman emperor!

Whatever the case, John’s ideas about Jesus were not actually Jesus. The person of Jesus Christ was (and is) far more complex than a job description for a messiah.

Now Jesus could have reprimanded John in the midst of his disorientation, but instead, he offered John some balance in the form of a more accurate job description.

“And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them” (Luke 18:22).

When challenges come along that shake our sense of stability, the unshakeable God is there to keep us steady. In those moments, we have more than just our ideas about Jesus to comfort us; we have Jesus himself.

Lord God, thank you for comforting us in the midst of difficulties. Help us to hold our ideas of you with a loose grip. Help us to trust in you, the living God, more than our understanding, more than anything. Amen.