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!" Mark
9:23-24 NKJV
Something
I have always appreciated about this passage and the story it tells is the
honesty of this man looking Jesus in the eye and admitting he had a problem
with unbelief. Now obviously, he had
faith enough to seek Jesus out believing He had the power to heal his son, yet
he almost seems to be admitting that he also had doubts. How often do we too, as believers, understand
and believe that God has the power to do something, yet also have doubts as to
if He will.
Speaking
about this story, Ray Stedman had this to say about this man’s admission;
He said these words which
have been the encouragement of many since: "I do believe; help my
unbelief!" Out of the honesty of his weakness, he cast himself on the
Lord. "Yes, Lord, I do believe; but I feel my unbelief and I don't know
how to handle it. You make me believe." That kind of faith is small, but
it is like a grain of mustard seed -- it is able to move mountains. The moment
he said those words, the moment he cast himself in his weakness back on the
Lord, that was all God wanted.
Now
many might say that having doubts at times is perfectly normal, but I want to
suggest that rather than normal, it is a result of forgetting the past, and
focusing only on the present. It seems
to me that many of us suffer from what we could call the “Doubting Thomas
Disease”, a condition where we feel our belief must be based solely on what we
can see.
The other
disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said
to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not
believe." John
20:25 NKJV
What I
find really unfortunate here is that Thomas seems to have forgotten all that he
had already seen Jesus do in the past few years. Never mind that he had seen miracle after
miracle performed by Jesus which should have proven without a doubt that He had
the power to resurrect Himself. After
all, Thomas had seen Jesus bring Lazarus back to life only a few weeks before,
yet he still had doubts, and wanted to see for himself. Yet after Jesus appears to him and settles
the matter of doubt, He says something to Thomas we should all make a point to
remember.
Jesus said to
him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed [are]
those who have not seen and [yet] have believed." John 20:29 NKJV
Those
who choose to believe without having seen are not only blessed, they are also said
to have “faith”.
Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
What
do we as believers “hope for”? I think
most of us would answer that question with the word “salvation”! Because we have heard the testimony of
scripture, admitted our need for salvation, and have chosen to believe that
Jesus is the Son of God sent to pay the price for our sins we then look forward
to the day we will join Him in heaven.
Paul put it this way in his letter to the Corinthians.
For in this we
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 2
Corinthians 5:2 NKJV
Why do
we groan? Personally, I groan because I
understand that this life has nothing for me in comparison with what my eternal
future life with Christ in heaven has to offer.
I don’t know about you, but I am increasingly impatient waiting for the
day He will return for His church. It is
the knowledge of His promises to us, and the testimony of His Word, that helps
us to walk in faith until He comes again.
For we walk by
faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV
I
would have loved to see Jesus face to face as the disciples did, and to watch
Him perform miracles and minister to those who followed Him. But I do, however, have the testimony of His
Word which tells me of all that He did and that is more than enough for
me. Yet that is not to say that He is
not at work among us today, for there are many examples of His presence among
us in answers to prayer and provision for His people all around us. Has He answered any of your prayers
lately? To me, that is just the icing on
the cake. To not only believe in what He
has done, but to also see Him at work in our lives today.
In this you
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, [being] much
more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be
found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom
having not seen you love. Though now you do not see [Him], yet believing, you
rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your
faith--the salvation of [your] souls.
1 Peter 1: 6=9 NKJV
Faith
is acting on what you believe. Do you
really believe? Find a way to act on it
this week. The father with the sick
child had doubts, but he still had enough faith to come to Jesus and confess
his doubts. Jesus came through for him,
and He will come through for us.
Keep
watching.
