Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9: 20-24 (ESV)
So, where do you look?
What, or who do you look for?
Nothing seems to be working.
There are way too many days and too many moments we face, where we don’t have any idea where to turn.
That’s the situation for the dad in the scripture passage above.
His son is ill, convulsing out of control all the time.
And he comes face to face with Jesus who asks what’s happening.
After the dad tells Christ what’s going on, he adds this plea—“But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Christ responds—“If you can!” Something like—“Are you kidding me!”
And the dad quickly tries to correct things—“I believe; help my unbelief!”
I think people have been a bit too hard on the dad.
I mean, what would we have said?
His son’s been that way for a while. Jesus’s disciples—despite Christ having given them the power to heal—have flubbed a prior attempt to heal the boy. And the dad’s ongoing frustration for his son comes out in unbelief before the Healer of healers.
I wonder if we wouldn’t have said the very same thing.
I wonder if we have actually said and done the very same thing.
Expressed unbelief, and a lack of faith in the God of the Universe.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “…faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (ESV).
The Apostle Paul wrote—“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17 (ESV).
So again, when nothing’s going well—where do we look?
What, or whom do we look for?
Where do we turn, and where is our faith directed, when we don’t know where to turn?
The world. Or Christ.
Let me suggest—faith in Christ. Faith in the God of all creation.
The Reverend Billy Graham reminded us time and time again, that we are not called to understand the mind and workings of God, but we are called to believe.
Faith.
Faith in the God who loves you and me.
Faith in the God Who’s got you and me, and is over all.
Just faith. In Him.
In His Name–Scott
