John the baptiser had a great role in history, as the forerunner for Jesus, the voice in the wilderness proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah, as a witness certifying that this was indeed the Son of God come to save His people from their sins. He said that he recognised Jesus as the Son of God when he saw the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus after He was baptised (Jn.1:31-34). John knew that he himself was not the one who was significant but that his role was only to point out Jesus. He was content to be that, and he was fine when the focus of the people shifted from him to Jesus.
But then he was put in jail because he pointed out to King Herod that it was wrong of him to take his brother's wife for himself. This caused a great upheaval in his mind, making him to question things about God's relationship with him. Did he ask God why he was in jail for standing as a prophet for God? Did he have to deal with questions about whether this was a punishment from God for something he had done? Did he wonder why Jesus wasn't rescuing him as He was doing for many others, even raising people from the dead? Altogether, John may have felt confused, alone and left aside by God. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was really the Messiah (Lk.7:18,19).
Before we throw a stone at John, let us examine our own life. Have we ever been in a similar situation, and have we ever felt like he did? Have we felt that we have stood for Jesus, proclaimed Him to others, seen and heard about the different miracles He was doing for others, and then wondered where He was when we found ourselves in a difficult situation? Isn't this an unexpectedly common experience?
Jesus' answer to John looks rather strange. He told John not to get offended with Him but to look at all the miracles He was doing for others (Lk.7:22,23)!
Would that be a sufficient answer for us? What the answer boils down to is this: "Look at what I am doing and understand who I am and what kind of a Person I am. That is what you need to know in order to take you safely through everything that happens to you."
We like to always have a good time, and we would like God to ensure that He keeps things trouble-free. But God has better things stored for us which are much more precious than a trouble-free time on earth. Our trouble is only short-term whereas His blessings are eternal (2Co.4:17). And God knows that there are some spiritual riches He can give us only through trial (Ac.14:22).
The other thing is that each of us is special to God who knows that we are all different and have come through different experiences. So He has a custom-made training programme for each one of us. We can't expect that what He has done for someone else is suitable for us. When we see what God is doing for others we can learn more about Him that will increase our faith in Him. He expects this faith to carry us through our peculiar situations without getting offended with Him (Ja.1:2-4).