There once was a father who had faith…but also fear. Sound familiar? It is so easy to say that we have faith in things when God’s grace is so evident in our lives. But what happens when that hope in His grace begins to turn into something you easily KNOW but struggle to BELIEVE?

I’d love to share the story behind the quote in the title.

In the book of Mark, Jesus enters a land where there is great pain. A father’s heart breaks as his faith in the healing of his son grows less and less. His son struggled with a demonic spirit. He had seizures that would inflict harm towards himself and he was unable to speak. This man already sought help from people with a seemingly great reputation, the disciples, but even they could not bring healing to the son. But when the father met Jesus, he pleaded for help again.

How beautiful is this mans faith? After years of his son being possessed by this unclean spirit, witnessing countless failed attempts to bring healing, including that by the men who walked alongside Jesus, he never gave up. He knew the authority of Christ and chose to let his faith in that truth be stronger than his doubt in this circumstance. May we strive to have a faith-filled and hopeful heart as persistent as this father.

After showing his son to Jesus, the man said, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” My first thought of the father’s request was that he did not understand the power of Christ, but as I read on, I realize this statement of “if you can” meant something totally different.

As we look back at how He first addressed Jesus, he calls Him “teacher”, acknowledging His authority. He also seeks help from His closest followers, whom we know were no where near perfect, showing His faith in Jesus’ teachings. He then brings his burdens to Jesus’ feet as he cries out to him even after the failure of His disciples. This “if you can” was most certainly not a rejection of the power of Christ, rather a plea for the blessing and grace from the God who freed the Jews from Egypt, fulfilled the promise to Abraham and Sarah, and entered this world in flesh and blood to bring eternal hope to all.

Yet what I find most heart warming about this whole thing is the response Jesus gives as this man lays all he has in front of Him. It is not shaming. It is not confusing. It is not dismissive. He says straight to the man, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Instead of rebuking Him for his “if you can” statement, he simply asks him to believe, if he can.

CHILLS. How crazy is it to be reminded of the true power of our God? This world throws trials and burdens at us all day long, yet Jesus never fails to calm us with His comforting, sovereign presence. Right? Well, it is true that Jesus has that power, but it is not always that easy to put our full trust in it. How the man replies to Him, I feel, perfectly reveals the struggle of being human and a Christian. Considering there is so much about God that we will never fully understand with our limited minds, it is so easy for doubt to seep through the cracks of our faith.

So here this father was, with a heart so very heavy for his son, crying out to Christ in tears…”I believe, but help my unbelief!”

Wow. I don’t know about you, but this small plea hit me like a canon in my chest. It reminded me of the times I was confused about whether my doubt or fear in certain situations meant my faith was not good enough. Or the times where I convinced myself to just numb the pain so that I did not feel any uncertainties. It was as if my thoughts and feelings were finally put into words that formed a sentence perfectly portraying them.

I believe in Jesus as the Christ and His power, but in times of great trials, I need help to overcome the temptation of fear. And clearly from this passage, alongside many others in the Bible, Jesus offers his comforting presence and gracious blessings with just one catch…you must choose to believe. Whether or not your heart experiences the overwhelming peace of God is your decision. Just as joy is a choice, a gift in which requires genuine desire and discipline, hope is a choice as well. And with all of these, humility must be at the source. The humility that this man showed Jesus as he lamented so beautifully, is the only way in which one can empty their heart enough so there is room for it to be filled with all God seeks to give.

https://thegracestreetblog.wordpress.com/2022/02/18/come-as-you-are-for-the-non-life-long-believers/

I love this quote from Spurgeon, “While men have no faith, they are unconscious of their unbelief; but, as soon as they get a little faith, then they begin to be conscious of the greatness of their unbelief.”

Ignorance can be bliss for only so long. I would argue that the joy of experiencing the growth in a relationship with God is far greater than any joy that bliss could bring. The man in this story showed us that it is possible to have faith and doubt. I am sure many of you can relate very closely with him on this, as can I. But what he also showed us, is that we should not remain in that position of little faith. We should seek to overcome our worries and hopelessness with the presence of God in our hearts.

His son was probably very cherished and loved by him. It must have been hard to bring awareness of the issue at hand. But just like he came to Christ with an honest and humble heart, seeking nothing but His compassion, for he knew Jesus was all things good, we must do the same.

We all have situations in our life that we rather not bring into the light. Maybe you numb the pain with hopelessness. Or maybe you hide your doubts with a “faith on fire” mask. Whatever it is that you do, however it is that you are, none of us are perfect. God promises that His actions are for our good and His glory. But we will not experience this without being completely honest and humble with the Lord. Bring those things that you desperately cling to and are losing hope in to the foot of the Cross.

Let God be your provider, Jehovah Jireh. Your healer, Jehovah Rapha. The One whom your KNOW you can come to with faith as small as a mustard seed and BELIEVE He will do the impossible.

It is not always easy to expose our unbelief. Sometimes you will open up to people with your worries or doubts and they will respond with shaming you, but allow me to remind and encourage you that our God will never do that. He longs for a genuine relationship with you. His love for you does not grow any more or any less depending on what you do. But the extent of how much joy, peace, hope, love, comfort, and strength you actually feel and rest assured in, is completely based on how much you allow God to move in you. Like this man laid His greatest possession, his son, at the feet of Jesus and experienced a miracle He had some unbelief in, we should follow this course of action.

So as you go about your day, week, months, and years, I pray you learn to come to God as you are. Even if you have unbelief, let the belief you do have keep you steady towards God so that He may help you overcome your burdens. There is so much power in prayer, not because of the amount of our faith, but because of the one whom we are speaking to.

At the end of this story, the disciples ask Jesus why they were unable to cast out the demon from the son. He replied to them saying, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Let the father’s humility, Jesus’ responses, and the wisdom-seeking heart of the disciples lead your response as you face the various trials of life.