Today, the case of a little boy possessed by a demon stood out to me. He was brought to Jesus because His disciples failed to cast out the demon (Mark 9:14–18). As the father of the little boy explains the situation, he says to Jesus, The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” (Mark 9:22, NLT) Notice the question Jesus asks. “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23, NLT) The father of the boy then cries out… “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”(Mark 9:24, NLT)
What a relatable situation—belief and unbelief battling for the win. Have you ever had enough faith to bring a situation to God, only to find that unbelief rises from within and weakens your belief? Have you ever been frustrated that leaving a situation in God’s hands is so hard because unbelief wants to take it back? Even if Jesus stood before us, as He did with the man in our text, we would still be prone to this struggle.
With this struggle raging back and forth in this father’s heart, what did Jesus do? And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” (Mark 9:25, ESV) In other words, he answered both of this man’s pleas: the plea to help his son and the plea to help his unbelief. What a God!
Sometimes, overcoming unbelief is a miracle in itself. Believers, though we may struggle, who helps us with this weakness? Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26, ESV) Let us rejoice, let us believe, and let God help us with our unbelief!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62.