Perspective is a powerful thing.  It can influence and even ingrain what we know as truth, or it can distort what we perceive as truth. Does that make sense?

Faith in itself cannot fail, but our perspective can cause faith within ourselves to remain dormant.

When John the Baptist (Mathew 11: 2-5) was imprisoned and sent word through his disciples to inquire of Jesus on whether He was the one whom they had all expected to come, John displayed a moment of lost faith.

Was it his imprisonment that distorted his view of Jesus?

John may have never expected to end up in prison, especially not after prophesying in the wilderness all of those years about the coming Messiah, and encouraging those around him to ‘prepare ye the way for the coming of the Lord.”  John doubted. His faith failed him for a moment, until Jesus sends back a response – with a different perspective:

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

Was the kingdom of God that John preached in the wilderness different from Jesus’ response—the manifestation of the kingdom? Perhaps.

The bible is clear in its saying “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:9

In order for faith to succeed and be active in our life, we have to set aside our views and expectations of outcomes and trust God’s sovereign will for our lives, no matter what the circumstances dictate. Our current views are only a part of the picture and not the whole story of God’s will for our lives.