If You Can Believe
“17-Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.
18-And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."
19-He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me."
20-Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21-So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.
22-And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
23-Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
24-Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
25-When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"
26-Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."
27-But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.” Mark 9:17-26
I have read this scripture many times, over the years, in the course of my living for Christ, but reading it again this past week shined new light in my walk with the Lord. My prayer is that it will shed new light on your walk as well.
In this story the man’s son was demon possessed and often it harmed him and his father was deeply distressed. Have you ever been deeply distressed over an issue you had little control over? I have. The father sought out the disciples for help but they could not cast out the demonic spirit, so the father asked Jesus. There are several lessons in this story especially the one about being deeply in tune with God through fasting and much prayer but I’ll save that one for another time. The main point here is the father’s faith. His request to Jesus was if He would have compassion on them and help them. That is a simple prayer based on his very difficult and stressful problem.
I loved the simplicity of Jesus’ reply, “If you can believe, all things are possible for him who believes”. That’s it! No magical potion, no complicated prayer, no ritual, just plain and simple belief. How many times in our Christian walk do we try and figure things out for God – do it this way or that, or tell Him, do it right now but by my standards? God’s ways are much higher than our ways – Isa 55:8-9, for He knows what’s best for us and when it’s best. But here, in this story, faith is defined if you will, a simple just believe faith like that of a small child. The man knew his faith was small and asked Jesus to help his unbelief. Here’s the key point – the man’s faith was active and alive, even though small!
How many of us go through the motions to act like we have faith or just give lip-service faith to God? Why don’t we just plain believe that He will take care of the matter as long as it is in His will to accomplish it. This then is faith like a mustard seed – Luke 17:6 – perhaps little but active and powerful. If your faith is lacking, then just ask the Master for help. That’s it, nothing more, no fancy words or fanfare, no extraordinary dress or pomp. Just believe that He is capable of addressing your situation. Sometimes He won’t bail you out but He will provide supernatural strength and determination to see you through. His peace will cover over the situation and the Holy Spirit will quicken that peace to your spirit. Believe me … this works!
Find refreshing joy in your salvation today. Just think when you step into eternity as one was has been called, chosen and found faithful in God –Rev 17:14, you will experience the tremendous face to face fellowship and rest with our wonderful Redeemer, Savior and Creator – Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 13:12. Praise God!
-BPWatcher