There have been moments when we’ve all been tempted to throw in the prayer towel, but one promise will sustain us through the toughest times: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Here’s the context of that promise. Jesus is doing miracles right and left. He is healing diseases, driving out demons, and restoring sight to the blind, but John the Baptist misses the miracle train. It seems like Jesus is rescuing everybody except His most faithful follower, who is in prison. And John is His cousin, nonetheless. It seems like Jesus could have, and maybe should have, organized a rescue operation and busted him out before he was beheaded. Instead He sends a message via John’s disciples. He tells them to tell John about all the miracles He is doing, and then He asks them to relay this promise: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” ~ Matthew 11:6
Have you ever felt like God was doing miracles for everyone and their brother, but you seem to be the odd one out? It seems like God is keeping His promises to everyone but you? I wonder if that’s how John the Baptist felt. “What do you do when you feel like God is answering everyone’s prayers but yours?”
That’s where most of us live most of the time — in the triple-dot punctuation known as an ellipsis. The ellipsis indicates a pause in speech or an unfinished thought. When we’re waiting for God to answer a prayer, it’s a period of ellipsis. You can give up or hang on. You can let go or pray through it. You can get frustrated with God or choose to live un-offended.
The thing that sustained John during the ellipses in his live was a fresh encounter with the love of Christ. The Savior’s long-suffering on the cross inspired him, inspires us, to press in and pray through. And we don’t just live in the shadow of the cross; we live in the light of the” “resurrection, even in our darkest days.
