Mark 9:17-29

17 A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.’ 19 ‘You unbelieving generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.’ 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he been like this?’ ‘From childhood,’ he answered. 22 ‘It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’ 23 ‘“If you can”?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. ‘You deaf and mute spirit,’ he said, ‘I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’ 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He’s dead.’ 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ 29 He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’

 

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! Mark 9:24

“Doubt for long enough, and you may begin to despair of ever escaping from it,” Sonu reflected. Doubts can grow deep roots, becoming part of “who I am”. Yet during the course of his cancer treatment he also learned that doubt doesn’t have to define our faith or our future.

Sonu decided to direct himself instead to who God actually is. “The living God is a rescuing, delivering God, who enters in from the outside and shatters the bars of our expectations,” he affirmed. “He is a Pharaoh-crushing, sea-parting God; a sky-splitting, earth-shaking God; a Christ-giving, tomb-emptying God—and his hand cannot be stayed.”

In Mark’s Gospel, a desperate father approached Jesus. After years of frustration, he’d lost all hope for his demon-possessed son (9:21-22). “If you can do anything,” he implored Jesus, “take pity on us and help us” (v. 22).

“‘If I can?’” Jesus replied. “Everything is possible for one who believes” (v. 23). “Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” (v. 24). The father was honest about his ingrained doubts—yet put his small faith in Jesus. That was when he witnessed Jesus’ willingness to bring transformation and hope (vv. 25-27).

Perhaps you are doubting after years of battling relentlessly or believing you’re not worthy. Join that father today in setting your faith—however weak, trembling, or scared—in Jesus. He is here, ready to provide what he knows is best for you and me.

What doubts or uncertainties are you wrestling with at the moment? How does focusing on Jesus’ character, and willingness to hear, ease your fears?

Dear Jesus, thank You for receiving me as I am, even with my doubts. Please help me in my unbelief; I trust You to provide what I need today.