Help My Unbelief

A father asks Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son, tagging the request with the condition, “if you can.” Don’t you think questioning Jesus if He can kick a spirit out is pretty naive because he has already gone to Jesus’s disciples with the hope that his son would be well again? When gently rebuked by Jesus, “If you can?… Everything is possible for one who believes,” the father blurts out, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24 ESV). 

This statement is a good example of an oxymoron, which is to use words with contradicting meanings in a sentence. In one breath, the man expresses his belief in what Jesus is saying, and in the next, he confesses his disbelief. Aren’t we sometimes like this man? We believe God can do anything, but we keep Him out of a situation we are dealing with because we are not sure “if He can”! We keep Him at an arm’s distance from our problem-filled relationships, finances, work, etc.

Thankfully, God does not rebuke us for being double-minded-although in James, we are told to stop having doubts. Can it be because Jesus understands our hesitation? Didn’t He pray in the garden of Gethsemane that God change the eternal plan of salvation? Jesus questioned whether going to the cross was the only option before He declared that God’s will be done.

No matter how hard it is to believe that God can do a miracle in our lives, we should still ask. He already knows our limited span of reasoning. We do not see the world as He does. What cripples us leads Him to create beauty out of ashes. Let us go boldly to the throne and ask.

God bless you and your loved ones!

Meryem Kennedy