Stuck in prison, John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus if He was indeed the Messiah. If not, he would look for another. Jesus’ answer to the messengers was for them to tell John how He had healed the blind, made the lame to walk, and cleansed the leper, raised the dead. Then Jesus added, “And blessed is he who is not offended in Me” (see Matthew 11:2–6). When John received this message, I wonder if he beat himself for his lack of faith. He had been so bold up to that point; I wonder if he felt his ministry was, after all, a failure.

Certainly Moses would be able to understand. Having been faithful for forty years, his obedience had faltered at a moment of frustration. Yet, because God had shown him the Promised Land, Moses knew the end of his story. John didn’t. You see, right after his messengers left, Jesus called John the greatest man ever born (Matthew 11:11).

So too, if you feel like a failure, like you’ve let the Lord down once too often, like He will never again be able to use you, remember that He sees you as perfect, robed in the righteousness of His Son (Isaiah 61:10). That makes us who are “least in the Kingdom” greater even than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). Messengers may not tell you this, your prison walls may not confirm it, failure at Meribah may say otherwise - but you, dear saint, are God’s prize and His inheritance. And, as seen in the lives of Moses and John the Baptist, those God uses to the greatest degree are often the very ones who question their own effectiveness.

Press on, precious brother; be strong, dear sister. The Promised Land of the Spirit-filled life is yours for the taking. And the Promised Land of Heaven is just around the bend.