Have you ever had God teach you the same lesson over again? My wife and I move a lot and every time we have some major thing go wrong. This time as I watched it happen again, I asked God what He was trying to teach me.

Let me give you an example of what kind of things have happened. Most of the time we have moved ourselves, and the issue had been with the moving truck. We often spend the morning of moving day finding where the companies have placed the truck that said they reserved for us ("Sure anyone can take a reservation..."). The most memorable move was when the company gave us a truck that had very worn breaks. We had to drive it 90 miles to the company's repair center to get them fixed. Luckily I only ran one light due to not being able to stop and there were no accidents.

On one move we were given the wrong date to move in. We sold our house then were told that our new house would not be ready for another month. Therefore we had to find temporary housing for that month.

Each time God provided for us during the difficulties, yet each time it was a frustrating experience. Why does our move need to be stressful because of others negligence?

This time around we decided to have moving company do the move. Taking kids cross country was enough of an adventure that we did not want to add driving a moving truck. Everything was lined up, the date was promised by the moving company, and again the movers did not show. We had to fly cross country with all of our stuff still in the house.

God, what are you really trying to teach us through this? In the past I had pushed back on the companies that faltered in their promises, and each time I had received some sort of compensation for the mistakes that were made. I was all geared up to follow the same path again, but as I prayed I felt that above it all I needed to focus on displaying the fruit of the Spirit. But what about compensation? Allow Me to compensate you. I want you to focus on displaying trust in Me.

It is now a week later. Our stuff is on a moving truck somewhere. I know it was picked up, but I still do not know when it will be delivered. And, for now, I'm ok with that. God is good. And, I have to admit, holding it loosely is more peaceful.

What are the difficult circumstances that God keeps taking you through? Does He have something to teach you through them?

Image courtesy of Michael Belk

As a follow-up to the Book Review on Where Is God? by Dr. John Townsend earlier in the week, I was thinking about how John the Baptist dealt with his doubts in Matthew 11.

We are told in Scripture that John the Baptist was in prison, and he sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask if He was the Christ. Why does John ask this question? He was there at Jesus' baptism. He said Jesus was the lamb of God. He saw the dove descend on Jesus. He heard the voice from heaven saying Jesus was God's Son. Why does John now doubt?

Remember that John the Baptist is currently in prison.

So how does Jesus answer John? "The lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised..." Miracles John. Miracles are following the Son of Man. This is what you were looking forward to. This is what you prepared the way for. Jesus then ends with this statement, "Blessed is the man who does not take offense at Me" (Matt. 11:6).

Was John the Baptist taking offense at Jesus? John knew the stories coming to him. He heard that the miraculous was happening. Why did John ask Jesus if He was the One? Because John was in prison. Sure Jesus, you are helping all these other people out, but what about me? What about my circumstance?

This past week my wife and I received news that the child we had been approved to adopt was accidentally also approved to some other family. There are obvious questions that immediately arise as this is not typical and quite frankly suspicious of how it could happen. We have caught some inconsistencies in the stories we have heard that gives greater questions to what is really going on. What are we supposed to do?

• We can step back and accept the story as is and just proceed with another referral. This could be God's sovereign plan to leading us to the daughter He picked for us.
• We can demand that the truth come out and hold people accountable to the promised referral we already have.

There may be a number of other options that could be right. What are we supposed to do? And how does this relate to John the Baptist?

Jesus gives John the Baptist two answers that we can use in our current circumstance.

1. Focus on the Good God Has Already Done. - Jesus told John all of the things that Jesus was doing. When we focus on what God has not done, we get offended by Him. It is the same thing we are told in Hebrews. We are not to forgot the good that God has already done and let our hearts be hardened. By focusing on what God has done and His character, we have faith that He will come through for us in our current circumstance.
2. Ask Jesus for Clarification When in Doubt. - Jesus does not condemn John the Baptist for asking if He was the One to come. Jesus just redirected John's focus back on His goodness. Jesus also followed up with a great commendation on John the Baptist saying that no man was greater than John. "You're ok John. I haven't forgotten you. You are still highly regarded in the kingdom."

You may not be in a physical prison, but the doubts that come at us can very well feel like a prison away from God's goodness. Focus on God's goodness and ask for clarification. He may not give you the answer you want, but He will give you the answer to get you through.

Please pray for my wife and I as we navigate our current situation with our adoption.

Recently we shared about a way to mitigate the distractions in your prayer time. This video is a funny representation of what these distractions may look like. This video was put together by eleven72, a company that creates videos and illustrations for churches.