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God's Mercy Surpassing Our Unbelief

(Overcomer Wu)

"If You can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" Mark 9:23

Please Read: Mark 9:17-27

In the above referenced Scripture passage, a father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus with the faith and hope that the Lord Jesus could instantly deliver his son. Nothing is more hurtful to a father's heart than to see his son/daughter be in pain or suffering and not be able to a thing to help him/her. Realizing his own futility and helplessness, this father at least knew the right Person to turn to in such circumstance, namely, our Lord Jesus, Who is not only able but willing to restore this child.

Yet when he finally reaches Jesus, the father started to waiver and falter in his faith. He requested, “if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”(9:22). Jesus, sensing the man's sudden doubts, throws the ball back into his court and replied, “If You can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (9:23). Without hesitation, the father realizes the disparity between his words and his actions, and he pleaded with tears in his eyes, “I do believe; help my unbelief” (9:24). What are we to conclude -- does this man have faith or not? Perhaps this man doesn't have sufficient faith in the Lord Jesus at the time; however, he stedfastly look to the Lord to have compassion on him and his child and to deal with them according to His great mercy and compassion.

This father was willing to humbly and honestly admit that, while he does in fact believe in Jesus' saving power, there are still some things -- such as concern for his son -- that can cause him to waver in his faith in God. The twelve disciples of Jesus was no different in that after seeing Jesus performed so many miracles, they still continually doubted Him and showed their lack of faith in Him time and again. In fact, in the passage before us, the disciples also demonstrated their lack of faith in not being able to cast out the demon themselves. Likewise, I believe the Lord had also done many marvelous and even miraculous things for us in the past, yet can we say with absolute certainty that we no longer question and doubt Him to come through for us when we do ask for our circumstances and deliverance from our predicament according to His will?

Do you believe that God still has the power to transform us as we do cooperate with His inner operation? Do we believe that He can change the life of our wayward siblings or friends, for whom we've prayed for many years? Or do we allow the outside influences and the passing of years without visible results to gnaw away our faith in Lord? Even so, let's be honest with the Lord about our fluctuating faith and our lack of faith, but praise the Lord that His mercy and power towards us who believed does not ebb and flow along with our confidence in Him. We do however need to exercise our faith in Him even if our faith is as small as a grain of mustard seed. Furthermore, we should stop looking at our hopeless circumstances and stop dwelling on our lack of faith, and continually look to Him Who is able to do above and beyond our ability to believe. Lastly, remember that regardless of what we see or hear or how we feel, God is still in control over all our lives and circumstances! For this we can take heart!

"Knowing our failures, predicament and even our foreseeable future means nothing (i.e. it does not help us); knowing the One Who hold the future and Who is in control means everything." -- O. Wu