Living Stones – Thursday, October 26, 2017
My unbelief
Mark 9:24
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
We sometimes talk about faith and belief so glibly that it is assumed that these come easily. The opposite is often true. Genuine faith and belief grows and matures over time except in cases where some dramatic event causes a sudden and immediate turn around.
I often say that there is a measure each of belief and unbelief in each of us, and the measure of unbelief is determined by where we are in our walk with God and what we have experience with Him and have receive from Him as we grow day-by-day.
Those who are not saved probably have the greatest measure of unbelief because they have not believed enough to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ for Him to be their Saviour and Lord.
Yet those who are saved and know God, still have a measure of unbelief in them and that measure of unbelief affects the nature and depth of their relationship with God and their experiences with Him. As examined in a previous Devotional on Hebrews 4:2, “the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”
Here are some examples – When last were any of you sick? And what did you do? James 5:14 says we should call the elders over with oil for them to pray the prayer of faith. You should go to the hospital when necessary but remember that the elders could find their way there too. Or, when last were you overcome with worry about the financial difficulties that confront you? The scripture says that we should not worry about these things for God will take care of them, consider the birds. We can go on but I am sure that you get the point. There are always situations in our lives that challenge us and at the same time present opportunities for us to express faith in God.
Jesus, accompanied by Peter, James, and John, comes down from the site of the transfiguration to encounter an argument. Mark 9:14-29. A man was in need of divine intervention – a miracle – and the disciples were in an argument with the teachers of the law and the people. There were His disciples (to quote Barclay) “beaten and baffled and helpless and ineffective” and the father who had come seeking Jesus, now after this brouhaha, was himself losing faith.
Jesus enquires about the crux of the argument and it is the man in need who had to provide the information. On hearing of the man’s need for his son’s deliverance Jesus outlines the condition for His intervention. The one condition was belief. Belief was going to unlock the power of Jesus to help the suffering child.
The father, desperate for intervention, declares, “Lord, I believe;” but he recognises that he yet has doubts. He has no experience with God in this way. He had tried many things before and nothing happened. He had even come to the disciples of Jesus and nothing happened. He was disillusioned and defeated. His father’s love for his son was the only thing that might have kept him going but really, he was at the end of his rope.
However, recognising this, he also recognised that the same Jesus who could heal the boy could also help him develop his faith and so he, with honesty and sincerity, added “… help my unbelief!”
Genuine belief, develops through experience with God. God who is the object of our belief is also the one who helps us believe. This father grasped that quickly.
There are so many arguments today about healing and miracles and related matters. There are arguments about science and religion, and about progressive views and traditional Christian views. We sometimes, like the disciples, get into these arguments and forget that we have an opportunity to answer the question Jesus asked, “What are you discussing with them?”
Many arguments are unnecessary when the power of God is displayed in a situation in response to our faith.
Continued tomorrow
Think on these things:
- Do you ever pray about things but have doubts in your mind that God would actually answer your prayer?
- What experiences of answered prayer can you recall and how did they affect your faith?
- Can you identify any growth of your faith and trust in God based on your experiences with Him?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would, by experience with God, get rid of unbelief.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
