“Help My Unbelief”

Mark 9:14-27

¹⁴ And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. ¹⁶ And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” ¹⁹ And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² 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.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ 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.” ²⁶ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸ And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

When it comes to stories of unbelief, the father in this story and the Disciple Thomas, have the spotlight. Of course, we know that Thomas demanded to see the risen Lord Jesus for himself before believing that He was truly resurrected. It’s a good thing that all believers don’t insist on seeing the risen Lord, for then the saved would be limited to about 500 first century people!

The gentleman in the story for today is in a dire situation. His son is possessed by a demon that has tortured him continuously for years. Clearly, by the tone of the conversation, the man is desperate and rightfully so. Even though they had been granted the authority to deal with such situations by Jesus, the disciples were unable to help the boy. In his pain and with great honesty, the father says, “If you can do anything . . .” He has reached that point of desperation; nothing has worked so far, including Jesus’ own followers. We cannot find fault with his hopelessness for we have experienced the same pain. When Jesus chides him, he cries out “I believe; help my unbelief.” These words are beyond poignant for us, because we’ve all been there!

What simply must be admired in this man is that he is painfully honest about his unbelief. Jesus has called him on it, but he is beyond the point of trying to defend himself. He is standing before the only Person who can bring deliverance from this evil and there is no room for justifying his doubt. He honestly declares it and let’s Jesus do the rest. And there’s the direction we too need to go. Instead to spending time defending our defenseless position, instead we can declare with this man, “I believe; help my unbelief.” That sentence is a prayer and one that perhaps we do well to appropriate.

Dear Lord, reveal to me the places where I harbor unbelief. I know those pockets exist in my heart and I ask You to root them out and let’s talk about them. Holy Spirit, be pleased to expose my doubts and address them through Jesus, who is the Truth. Thank You for not allowing me to wallow in my unbelief but instead take it all to You. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.