Day 23- Jesus before Herod

Herod apparently thought that Jesus was some kind of magic man who could perform miraculous tricks to impress others.  He thought that Jesus might do a miracle for him, perhaps to win his release. (Luke 23:8)  But that's not who Jesus is, nor is it what Jesus does.  Jesus stood silently before Herod, resisting his pleas for a miracle.  It reminds me of that earlier time in Jesus' ministry, when he went out into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  In the third temptation, Jesus is led by Satan up to the highest point of the temple, where Satan says, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here."  He goes on to quote scripture about how the angels will guard and protect him.  To this Jesus responds, " It is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Luke 4:12) Herod was putting Jesus to the test, wanting Jesus to do for him some impressive miracle.

In some ways, when we doubt Jesus, we're doing the same thing.  We want Jesus  to do something for us or someone we love on our timetable and in accordance with our plan.  When it doesn't happen that way, it may cause us to doubt.  But over the years I've learned it's not about our timetable and plan.  We're not to be putting God to the test.  Rather, we are to walk by faith, believing in God's time and in God's plan.  We fervently pray that God will lead us, heal us, and protect us and those we love.  But then we place our concerns in God's hands, trusting in God's will.  When we do that, doubt gives way to faith.  We learn to trust God, believing that God does have our best interest in mind.   That can be a hard thing to do, but my experience has been that God is fully trustworthy.  I have my share of questions about things that happen in life.  But I try and set aside doubt, believing that God is working things out in my life and in the world in accordance with His will.