Are You The One?

Last night was one of those nights that feels endless.

I barely slept. Every time I tried to shift positions, the pain in my back reminded me that my body is still healing from surgery. There’s a certain kind of exhaustion that comes when you’re tired enough to sleep but uncomfortable enough that you can’t. The clock keeps moving, the room stays dark, and your thoughts get louder with every passing hour.

I’m not sure how wise it is to write my thoughts down after a sleepless night, but here goes…

This morning,  I found myself being lead to read Luke 7:19–20.

John the Baptist, sitting in prison, sends messengers to Jesus with a question that almost feels shocking coming from someone like him:

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

This is John the Baptist. The man who prepared the way for Jesus. The man who recognized Him before others did. Yet here he is—in pain, isolated, confined, and questioning.

Honestly, that hit me differently this morning.

Pain has a way of changing the atmosphere of your mind. When your body suffers, your spirit can become vulnerable too. Questions creep in more easily. Discouragement gets louder. Hope feels farther away than it did in daylight.

I think sometimes we imagine faith as this constant certainty where mature believers never wrestle, never question, never feel weary. But Luke shows us something more human and more honest.

John didn’t hide his question.

He brought it to Jesus.

That’s the lesson God was trying to show me while staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m.

Not every painful season comes with immediate clarity. Sometimes healing is slower than we expected. Sometimes God’s work looks different than what we imagined. Sometimes we find ourselves asking quiet questions from uncomfortable places.

But Jesus didn’t shame John for asking.

Instead, He pointed to what was still true:

The blind see.

The lame walk.

The broken are being restored.

God is still moving.

This morning, I needed that reminder when I asked God the question…

“Are you the one who promised me I was healed? Or should I expect something else?”

Even in pain, God is still moving.

Even in exhaustion, God is still present.

Even when healing feels frustratingly slow, He has not disappeared from the process.

Maybe some of the deepest spiritual moments don’t happen on mountaintops. Maybe they happen in sleepless nights, uncomfortable silence, and whispered prayers that sound more honest than polished.

I don’t know how long this recovery journey will take. I just know that faith sometimes looks less like standing strong and more like continuing to bring your questions, pain, and weary heart back to Jesus again and again.

And maybe that’s enough for today.