10/02/2023
The day after we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, Satan begins to work at us... will our faith withstand his onslaught? Believing is easy when we are on the mountain, but when we return to the valley we find ourselves crying out to the Lord for help... so let’s prepare ourselves for those moments. In Mark 9 we read about Jesus healing a boy who was possessed by an unclean spirit. In this account the boy’s father pleads for Jesus to help them. He tells Jesus of the boy’s condition and then begs for help using these words... “”.... But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."” Mark 9:22 ESV. Does this sound familiar to us? What happens next?
Jesus doesn’t just heal the boy, but he does what is always required before He performs a miracle... He looks into the heart at the faith of those who are asking to receive the miracle. When we ask Jesus to heal us, or help us, is our request made out of faith, or desperation? In the case of the possessed boy there was initially desperation on the part of the father; so Jesus told him of the requirement...
“And Jesus said to him, "”If you can! All things are possible for one who believes."”
Mark 9:22-23 ESV
At that moment the father was brought to the place where he had to make a choice. In His desperation he would have preferred that Jesus just unilaterally heal his son, but now he has been asked to engage personally in the process. What will he do? For many of us we have to sleep on it, or at least think about it for a few minutes, but not this Father...
“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"”
Mark 9:24 ESV
He cried out to Jesus by first assuring Him that he did believe, but then he went a step further by asking something for himself, another request for help came... “help my unbelief.”
There have been numerous occasions in my life when I have needed a miracle, and on those occasions I have leaned on my faith as I approached the Lord, but on each of those occasions I have had the feeling that my faith was not what it should have been and felt the need to pray the request this father made...”help my unbelief.” There are also those times when I have been busy trying to make whatever I needed to happen by myself, only to realize the futility in what I was doing, and when I came to this realization I would cry out in that moment of desperation... “Jesus help my unbelief.”
You see, faith is not like many things in our lives that are either yes or no. It isn’t like a light switch on the wall that is either on or off... faith is more akin to a dimmer switch that turns the light brighter or dimmer. In order for it to remain bright we must keep the knob of our faith turned far to the right. Sometimes we are on our knees begging for compassion and realize that our faith might be too dim. At that moment we cry out to Jesus for his help with it; we call across the room of desperation to Him... “help my faith Jesus! Lord, please turn up the rheostat of my faith, and reduce my resistance to you!”
When we are walking along the way with Jesus there are times that we find ourselves traveling across an open landscape in which there is no shade, and the sun shines on us all the while, but then we come into a lightly forested stretch in which we pass from shade to light and back again... and finally there are also those times when the forest is so heavy and dark that it is like night, and our eyes strain to see. This analogy is true of the light of our faith, and the landscape of our lives which is constantly changing as we journey with Jesus. There are times when our faith is bright within us, times when it is sufficient but fluctuates, and finally there are those times when we struggle to find it at all. In each of these degrees it is appropriate to ask Jesus to help us, just as the apostles did. We should pray “increase my faith” to Jesus.
“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Luke 17:5 ESV
You might be thinking to yourself that you are in an open field right now, with no obstruction, so why would it be necessary to pray for Jesus to help you with your faith? After all, it is already as bright as the sun! Well, Paul can help with this question let’s listen as he describes his experience...
“At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'”
Acts 26:13-14 ESV
God shines brighter than the sun; there is always room for our faith to grow brighter, and no end to the travel of the rheostat when it will have reached its furthest point and we shouldn’t ask Jesus to help us by turning the brightness up. To ask Him to help with our faith is always appropriate and beneficial. We should never lean on your own understanding or settle for a faith that we feel is good enough, or bright enough.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the endless brightness of my faith in you. I thank you for allowing me to know you better, and for my faith, which increases with each new realization of your power, glory, and love. Holy Father, you are without limit and your light shines brighter than the sun. As I walk in this, your light, let my faith also increases in its brightness. Jesus hear my prayers for help; hear me when I cry out to you “help my faith.” I need you Lord because this is a Road I have never travelled before and it is lined with snares and obstructions that would undo me without my faith in your provision and guidance. I am asked to have faith in the goodness and power of our Father, but sometimes my faith wanes and I am tempted to believe that the problems I am facing are beyond His ability or desire to fix... help my faith, and help me in my unbelief, in those moments. Increase my belief beyond what is expected and fill me with the peace and joy that is brought by absolute assuredness in the Father’s goodness and grace. As we walk this way together, and we pass from light, to shade, and into the dark... let your light radiate from my faith and light the way... lead me Jesus and provide me with the miracles and blessings of the father through my faith, and your ever-present light of life.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."”
John 8:12 ESV
Rich Forbes