Lord, I BelieveSample

I believe . . . God will help me overcome my unbelief

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

When was the last time you struggled to believe?

Today? Yesterday? Every day?

If we’re honest, most of us will answer, “Often.”

When we struggle with our jobs, our health, or our marriages, we wonder if God will see us through. When our loved one languishes in a hospital bed or our prodigal child roams the streets doing God knows what, the icy grip of faithlessness squeezes our hearts and takes our breath away.

When we come to God again and again with the same request and nothing changes, our faith wobbles. Maybe I’m wasting my time. Maybe Goddoesn’t care. Or worse—maybe this situation is so bad, so sad, or so broken even God can’t fix it.

Such was the case with the man in Mark 9. This man was living a parent’s nightmare. A demon had controlled his son since he was a tiny boy. It would twist his little body with convulsions, paralyze his muscles, and sling him to the ground as he foamed at the mouth. Sometimes the father would hear noises and come running, only to discover the demon had flung his son into the fire or into the water.

One day, the man heard stories about a teacher who had fed a multitude and healed a blind man. Maybe, just maybe, He could help his son. So he set out for the teacher’s camp.

But Jesus wasn’t there.

His disciples listened to his desperate plea and tried to help. But the evil spirit hung on. Maybe even laughed a little.

By the time the Teacher arrived, a crowd had formed. Scribes and disciples argued. Bystanders offered opinions. The boy sat silently in their midst.

“What are you discussing?” Jesus asked.

“Teacher,” the man cried, “I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not” (vv. 17-18).

As if on cue, the demon convulsed the boy and flung him to the ground. Take that, Jesus. This one’s mine.

“If you can do anything,” his father begged, “take pity on us and help us” (v. 22).

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus.

In three words, Jesus asked the heart-piercing question that exposed the father’s faith struggle—and ours.

Do we believe Jesus can?

Can He heal? Can He provide? Can He restore? Can He defend?

Sometimes I get so snarled up in the sovereignty of God—Is it His will or isn’t it His will—that I forget that faith is believing He can. “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” Hebrews 11:6 tells us. The faith that pleases God doesn’t always know how God will act. But it knows God will act. And that He’ll do what is best.

I don’t have to know God’s will for every situation to pray in faith. Faith isn’t knowing the outcome. Faith is knowing God.

“Everything is possible for one who believes,” Jesus reminded the father (v. 23).

With the honesty that comes from staring into the all-knowing face of God, the man exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (v. 24).

We can say the same.

Father, I trust you to work all things together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purposes (Romans 8:28).

On that day long ago, Jesus responded to a father’s wobbly faith by doing a miracle. He’s still doing miracles today.

I hope Lord, I Believe, 60 Devotions for Your Troubled Heart will help you stake your faith on the firm foundation of God’s Word—and believe.