#DailyDevotion There Are Days We Cry Out, “I Believe; Help My Unbelief!”
Mark 9:21-29 21Jesus asked his father, “How long has he been like this?” “Since he was a child,” he said. 22 “It often threw him into fire or into water to kill him. Oh, if You can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” 23“You say, ‘If you can!’ ” Jesus answered him. “Anything can be done if you believe.” 24Immediately the child’s father cried out, “I do believe; help me with my unbelief.”25When Jesus saw a crowd quickly gather around Him, He talked sharply to the unclean spirit: “You deaf and speechless spirit, I order you, ‘Come out of him, and don’t go into him again.’” 26It screamed and wrenched him violently and came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that everyone said, “He’s dead.” 27Jesus took his hand, helped him get up, and he stood up. 28When He went into a house and His disciples were alone with Him, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we drive out the spirit?” 29 “This kind can be driven out only by prayer,” He told them.
Can you imagine having a child with some terrible thing they experience every day of their life since birth or pretty close to that. The anguish this father must felt as he finally has a bit of hope and then it seems it has gotten dashed as the one person you thought could help comes to your area and then when you get there, he is there and only his assistants are there and they fail to help you. On top of that, his assistants get in an arguments with a bunch of other people and you and your child seem to pushed aside. It’s no wonder he is the first to shout out when Jesus asked them what they are arguing about.
His disciples inability to cast the demon out cause doubt on the part of the father because they were acting on Jesus’ authority. If the disciples can’t do it the master probably can’t either. It’s not surprising he says, “Oh, if You can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” When I read this I think, so maybe he thinks Jesus may be able to something to alleviate the problem since it looks like exorcism is out. It’s hard to tell if the man is still hopeful or just transitioned to wishful thinking.
Jesus takes the spark of whatever there is left in the man and gives him a word that will stir up his faith again, ‘If you can!…Anything can be done if you believe.” It is a thing in the Gospels that the lack of faith in people prevents Jesus from acting. It’s not as if Jesus doesn’t have the power or will to do so. But it doesn’t benefit the person spiritually for Jesus to do a miracle. Miracles strengthen faith, they do not create it.
The father responds, “I do believe; help me with my unbelief.” How much faith does it take to be saved? Faith. Saving faith is not a quantitative faith. Either you have it or you don’t. There is a faith we have that is a quantitative faith. You may have little or great, small or large amounts of this faith. It grows from saving faith. The father puts his faith in Jesus, little that it is and asks for help to overcome whatever unbelief remains in him. Jesus responds with casting out the demon from the boy. Certainly the boy’s father’s unbelief is overcome with the restoration of his child. We too have faith in Jesus to save us from our sin, raise us from the dead and be given eternal life. Sometimes we need greater faith or need to overcome our unbelief for everyday living. In those days we need to cry out with the father, “I believe; help me with my unbelief.” Jesus will be there to strengthen you in you faith as well.
Heavenly Father, in the midst of doubts the world casts upon us, have mercy upon us and strengthen our faith in Christ and overcome our unbelief. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.