“The John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit deciding like a dove from heaven and rest upon Him. I didn’t know He was the One, but when God sent me to baptize with water, He told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that He is the Chosen One of God.” (John 1:32-34 NLT)
This personal account from John the Baptist is interesting, especially when we lay it alongside the description of Jesus’ encounter with him in Luke 3:21-22. Apparently God had already spoken to John about a dove descending, about a specific sign of the Holy Spirit’s alightment on a Messiah that would pass under the Jordan’s waters with John.
I read of the certainty in John’s statement – ‘He is the Chosen One of God’ – and I recall his later missive from Herod’s holding cell. ‘Are you the One or should we wait for another?’ (Luke 7:20).
It’s easy to see it in John’s story: how he was so sure of Jesus’ divine nature on the sunny, breezy banks of the Jordan. But when the lights went out, when belief included incredible suffering in the dungeon of Herod’s paranoia, it became a whole lot harder to trust. I examine the dark nights of my own story and recognize the inky shadows of faith flickering.
Rend Collective lyrics come to mind:
“What’s true in the light is still true in the dark,
You’re good and You’re kind and You care for this heart.”
This is where record-keeping comes in handy. Where scripture memorization proves it’s worth. Journaling leaves a legacy of God’s faithfulness in our story. If we write down His words, if we hide His truth in our hearts, we create strongholds of hope to return to when the lights go out.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot extinguish it.” (John 1:5 NLT)
Dear Lord, we look at John the Baptist’s struggle and we recognize our own. It’s hard to see clearly in the dark. Help us to write out accurate records of Your faithfulness. Store up Your word in our hearts so we can hang on to it when the world goes dark. Let us live and die still confident in You. Amen.