“AND STRAIGHTWAY THE FATHER OF THE CHILD CRIED, AND SAID WITH TEARS, LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.” – Mark 9:24
Jesus and his disciples had just experienced a heavenly scene on the mount of transfiguration. They had heard the voice of God, felt the encouragement of angels, and seen men of faith who had walked this earth. They had had a deeply spiritual experience. One that could only be imagined by you and me. However, coming down from the mount, the scene that met them was a stark contrast to the one they had just experienced on the mount.
They met a distressed father, a young boy possessed by the devil, his life being destroyed by malicious spirits, and then of course they met the other disciples in trouble and great distress because they couldn’t help the boy. A mixed multitude including the scribes had gathered around them. There was a great dispute going on For the scribes, this was an opportunity to discredit the disciples and the work of Jesus.
It was not a beautiful scene. It was an emotionally charged scene. There was a disappointment, fear, discouragement, evil gloating, anger, and doubt and I can imagine that the demons were dancing around in jubilation. This was the kind of situation they could rejoice over.
Nevertheless, the moment Jesus stepped in though the situation changed. He healed the boy, dispelled the demons, and most importantly he restored to both the disciples and the distressed father something vital that would make a huge difference in their walk with God from then on. That vital ingredient is faith.
Faith
Mark 9:23- 24 “Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Here is a most unusual situation, a distraught father believed that Christ could help his son. He had to have had some faith to bring his son to Christ’s disciples. Yet, on the other hand, that faith was mixed with a measure of unbelief. He had watched the disciples fail in their attempts to heal his son and now the kind of thoughts that creep around in our heads was probably swirling around in his too. “Is this case too hard for Christ to heal? Is he even able to do it? Did I come to him too late? Is this an impossible situation? Is God even hearing the prayers for help? Am I wasting my time being here asking God for help? Would my prayers ever be answered? Even if he does it for others and he can do it, does he care about me enough to actually do this for me?…”
Is this not, more or less, our situation? Do we not discover that our faith is, at times, mixed with doubt? Oh, we know that God can do it but our hearts are being weighed down with the questions, the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘if nots’ and the ‘whys’ and ‘hows.’ Like the heartbroken father, we shouldn’t turn back but rather we should cry to God ‘Lord I believe. Help my unbelief
Faith versus doubt
Faith is the God-given faculty that accepts and appropriates God’s promises. Look at the story of Abraham. The bible says;
Rom. 4:20-22
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Abraham believed even though he had not seen it. He trusted God’s words to be true. Just as Noah did. He had never seen rain and just like all the people who walked the earth, he could have doubted God’s word and even doubted his sanity. But he went to work building an ark for 120 years!
Heb. 11:7
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Imagine expecting something for so long. But he believed the truth of God’s word even in the face of scorn and ridicule. He believed when God predicted something that seemed impossible. That is faith. Doubt, on the other hand, is to waver in opinion, to hesitate to believe. It is, in fact, an unsettled state of mind. “Will it happen? Can it happen? Is it true? Is there proof? Is this possible?…”
This was the difficulty of the distressed father. He brought his troubled child to the disciples because he believed that they could help him. The condition of the disciples, however, brought confusion to him; it caused his faith to waver. Thus it becomes clear that our unfitness may create unbelief or doubt in the minds of people who seek light and truth. In the same way, we too can have doubts when we look at others.
Faith and doubt don’t mix
Doubt paralyzes faith. When we pray to God asking for mercy from Him, and at the same time cherish doubt in our hearts, we cannot be helped by the Lord.
James 1:6- 8
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
A double-minded person is too unstable to have his prayer heard in heaven. God wants us to confidently place our hope in him. He wants us to trust him. It wouldn’t be called faith if we could see the evidence. If we were blindfolded and a guide holds our hands to cross a busy road. We can hear the blare of horns, the movement of cars, and the sound of traffic from all sides but we need to trust the guide because we cannot see for ourselves. If we could see for ourselves, we wouldn’t need to have faith in the guide.
Hebrews 11: 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
If though we panic and give room to doubt. If we begin to think; ‘are we sure this guide knows the way? Are we sure he can take me across safely? Is he even still here? I can’t even see him because of the blindfold and I can’t hear him through all the noise of the traffic. I can feel his hand lightly on mine directing me but what if that is not his hand?…
What happens when all these doubts begin to creep in? Faith flees. And what happens when you decided to let go of the guide because of the doubts and head out into traffic on your own? You get hit hard.
Conclusion
God has a remedy for double-minded souls: Cry unto the Lord, as that father did, “Lord, I believe, help mine unbelief.” Pray always, “Lord increase our faith” – Luke 17:5. Accept the word of God without any other condition attached unto it. Do not ask for sight or proof, ask for faith and more faith. God understands the struggles of our hearts and when we cry to him he hears us. He can help our unbelief. He can help us just like he helped this father. Do you think the father left that gathering that day with any strand of doubt? Certainly not.
Even the disciples who were discouraged by the fact that they couldn’t help the young man now knew where the problem lay.
Jesus said to them ‘All things are possible if you believe”
They too would have left that scene with the prayer in their heart
“I believe. Help my unbelief!”