IT’S
HARD TO BELIEVE!
Mark
9:23-24
23
Jesus
said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to
him that believeth.
24
And
straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I
believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Belief
is
the “assent of the mind to the truth of any proposition.” (McClintock and
Strong). Belief does not need any means or arguments but may simply be a
response to our senses. What makes one witness credible while another witness
is discredited?
In
Mark 9,
the father of the demonized son relates the failure of other means to release
his son from this torture. The father then pleads with Jesus saying “but if
thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” This was almost a
statement of doubt and not a statement of faith. The father was willing to try
this one more thing but you can hear the doubt in his plea.
Jesus
answered that belief is crucial to the cure. The father then admits the
weakness of his faith and asks for help in believing. So it is with us. We
believe with the weakest faith at our disposal. Without evidence, we place our
trust in an invisible God.
God
always allows for doubt because doubt and belief exist together. Cures,
miracles, and turn-a-rounds can almost always be ascribed to natural means.
Only the believer assigns the cure to God. Doubters go on doubting, even in the
face of miracles, while believers go on believing.
Only
when the doubter is willing to ask for help in believing does he move from one
realm to another. When the doubter acknowledges his doubt, and agrees to the
possibility of belief, faith is born.
Belief
grows as we exercise faith. Stephen, in Acts 5 and 6, was said to be a man
“full of faith” or “covered over with persuasion.” He maintained his faith even
while being stoned to death and saw, by faith, Jesus standing at the Father’s
right hand ready to welcome him home.
Dear
Lord, we beg with the disciples, increase our faith! AMEN
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