"And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."" (Mark 9:23-24)
Jesus said "All things are possible to him who believes", but so often we do not see those things happening in our own lives. We are told by some modern preachers that it is because we do not have enough faith. That if we exhibited more faith, God will do what we ask. But these verses tell us something else, something that we tend to miss when it comes to the topic of how to build our faith.
Seeing is Not Believing
Let us set these verses into context. In the latter part of chapter 7, Jesus cast out a demon, and healed a deaf and mute man. This is then followed in chapter 8 with Jesus feeding the four thousand, and Peter's confession of Jesus being the Christ. Then early in chapter 9 we see the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount with three of His disciples.
All of these events were awe filled events. Jesus showed such authority over the demons, the sick and the natural elements. We even see God the Father telling the three disciples to "Listen to Him." News about Jesus was spreading throughout the nation and many saw things with their own eyes. People were flocking to Him to have their own illnesses healed, to hear His great teachings and to witness for themselves His mighty acts.
Yet right here, in the middle of it all, we read of a man who brings his son, first to the disciples, then to Jesus, to have him rid of the demons that plagued him. But the disciples were unsuccessful. Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith before turning to the man and asking him to bring the boy to Him. When Jesus asks the man about the boy's condition, the man makes the statement Jesus questions him about in our verses above, "If you can."
Think about it for a moment, the disciples and the people of Israel had seen and heard of Jesus' miracles, and yet here we see Jesus rebuking them for their unbelief. How could these people still not believe? Quite simply because seeing is not believing. At least not believing in terms of the Bible. Biblical faith requires one to believe without having seen the miracles. Note Jesus' words to Thomas after the resurrection, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29).
Building Our Faith
There are a number of things that we are told to do to build our faith. Read the Bible, prayer, remember what God has done for us in the past, listen to testimonies of God working in the lives of others, read Christian biographies, go to church, or fellowship with other believers. Each of these in their own way can build our faith to some degree, but there is one aspect we tend to miss.
Our faith is ultimately built up by God Himself. The man in our story did not go away and try to build up his faith on his own, nor did e show any pride in the faith that he had. Instead he displayed an attitude of humility. He had some belief as a result of what he had seen and heard, but there was still an element of unbelief that he knew he was lacking. He confessed it and asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief.
We are all like the man in our story. We have enough faith to call ourselves Christian and to pray, but not enough to leave the outcome completely in God's hands. We ask ask things of God only to continue worrying about them afterwards, or even attempt to sort them out in our own strength. Sometimes we wonder if God cares or even hears our prayers.
We therefore need to be humble like this man. We need to confess our lack of belief and trust in God and ask Him to help us with our unbelief. It is God Himself who has given to each of us the measure of faith that we have (Romans 12:3), and only He can give us more.
Just a Thought!
© 2012
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