“Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24 CSB
The particular story behind this verse is about a father whose son is possessed by a demon. He brings him to Jesus to be healed. Here is Jesus initial response:
“You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” (Mark 9:19 CSB).
The father is immediately humbled, yet he still says to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help” (Mark 9:22). Jesus wasn’t too happy with his response, He immediately replies, “‘If you can?’ Everything is possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23).
That is how Jesus responds to unbelief. It irritates Him. From Jesus perspective, what all does He have to do to make people believe? How many miracles does he perform, how many demons does he have to deal with, how many people does He have to feed for people to finally believe in Him? He had done countless wonders by this time and people were still struggling with unbelief. Just like we are today. No matter how much Jesus has done for us, no matter how much He has carried us through, we still don’t have full belief in Him. We don’t believe He can handle the crisis in our family, we don’t believe He can heal our marriages. We don’t believe He can help us love that person we work with who drives us crazy. We don’t think He can heal the sick, feed the hungry or bring peace into a world of turmoil. We don’t believe because we’ve already forgotten what He has already done for us.
But we can do what this father did, we can pray and ask Jesus to help us with our unbelief. We can admit we’re struggling, that we’re finding it hard to believe. EVEN if we remember all He has done for us, it can still seem the problems we face today are insurmountable. But they’re not. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV). The longer I live, the more I learn this truth.
Let’s pray together today for God to help us with our unbelief:
Lord, we’re sorry for the times we don’t believe. Help us always to remember this story of the father and son. Help us to remember all Jesus has already done for us. Help us remember, whatever we’re dealing with today, He’s got it too. Help us with our unbelief. (Mark 9:24 CSB). In Jesus name we pray. Amen
