What happens when sincere faith begins to struggle?

John the Baptist had faithfully proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. He had prepared the way for Christ, baptized Him, and boldly pointed others to Him. But now John was sitting in prison—and what he was experiencing did not seem to match what he expected the Messiah to do.

So John sent his disciples to Jesus with an honest question:

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” — Matthew 11:3

Jesus did not condemn John for asking. Instead, He pointed John back to what God was doing and to what Scripture had promised: the blind received their sight, the lame walked, lepers were cleansed, the deaf heard, the dead were raised, and the poor had good news preached to them.

In Matthew 11:1–6, we discover an important truth about seasons when faith struggles: our circumstances may confuse us, but Christ remains faithful.

When God does not work the way we expected, when prayers seem unanswered, or when our circumstances cause questions to rise, the answer is not to abandon Christ. It is to look again at who He is, what He has done, and what God has revealed in His Word.

In this sermon:
• Why John the Baptist began to question
• The difference between doubt and unbelief
• Why our expectations can distort the way we see God
• How Jesus answered John by pointing to evidence and Scripture
• Why difficult circumstances do not change who Christ is
• How to respond when our own faith struggles

Jesus closes His answer with this encouragement:

“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” — Matthew 11:6

Faith does not mean that we never have questions. Faith means that when questions come, we bring them to Christ and allow His truth—not our circumstances—to have the final word.