Saturday, July 12, 2008
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Help for Troubled Faith
Unbelief, which is really "unfaith," is not something that we want in our lives. It accomplishes only the opposite of those things that we wish to see.
At one point in his ministry, Jesus went to his hometown and, while the people were amazed at his teaching, we are told that "he could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them" (Mark 6:5-6). Jesus was amazed as well, at their lack of faith! That's not how I would want God to be amazed with me! On another occasion to which we will return, the disciples were unable to cast out a particular demon because of their unbelief (Matthew 17:20). Jesus has some pretty harsh words for them: "O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you" (Luke 9:41). And even after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the eleven remaining disciples and "rebuked them for their unbelief and the stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him" (Mark 16:14). Unbelief certainly doesn't get high marks in Jesus' book. Hebrews 3:12 says:
"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily . . ."
On the positive side, there are many more examples of Jesus responding to faith. He comends the Roman centurion for greater faith than he has seen anywhere among the Jews (Luke 7:9) and his servant is healed. To many others, Jesus says something like, "Go your way, your faith has healed you." We all desire to be those people whose faith accomplishes what it is that we are seeking. We want to see our needs met. We want to see miracles happen. We want to see mountains in our lives move. How often have we cried in the words of Jesus first disciples, "Lord, increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5).
Pay close attention to Jesus' answer. He doesn't tell us to pray for more faith or some other thing. He says, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you" (Luke 17:6). How does our faith increase? First of all, it is important to note that we don't need that much — and on that, you have Jesus' word! Second, we have all been given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). To increase our faith, we simply act on the faith that we already have and we speak to whatever it is that we want moved or changed or healed or repaired or whatever and Jesus says "it will obey you." God will not give us more faith. Our faith will increase through use.
One of my favorite stories is found in all of the first three gospels, however, only in Mark 9:14-28 do we get the full story. We have already referred to the man who brought his demon-possessed son to the disciples only to find that they could not cast the demon out. When they bring the boy to Jesus, the demon immediately manifested itself and Jesus calmly asks, "How long has he been like this?" The father related that it had been this way since childhood and shared his concern for the boy since the demon would do all kinds of things to try and kill him. Not a pretty picture. And so, this tortured father says to Jesus, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." How often must we admit that this is about the level of our prayers!
Fortunately, Jesus is not offended. He doesn't criticize either. But notice what he says and what he does not say. Jesus does not say, "If I can? Of course I can, I am God!" No, he repeats the man's own words back to him "If you can? Everything is possible to him who believes — to the one who has faith" (Mark 9:23). Immediately, the father got it and exclaimed, "I do believe — I do have faith! — help me overcome my unbelief — my unfaith" (Mark 9:24). Jesus responds and the man and his son get their miracle.
We can take great joy in this today. I sure do. I am struggling to see certain things happen in my life. They seem at times to be impossible. Will they ever happen? I am tempted to give up (see the Monday, July 7th Challenge). Do I have a faith problem? Am I one of those "you of little faith" people? No matter. My faith and your faith regardless of it's size is big enough to make everything possible.
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief"
I know that when we are honest about our faith and even our lack of faith at times, our little becomes much in the hand of a loving Father.
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