Did You Forget?
Some are notorious for being forgetul. “Now let me see: Where did I put my wallet?” “Where are those keys. I just had them?” “What did I do with my computer?” Ever ask questions like this to yourself? I have and I am thankful that I have others, like my wife, who usually remembers where all these items are. She amazes me. But, while these little things can make us worry ourselves to death and bring frustrations, these are not the most of my worries when it comes to forgetting.
Sometimes, I believe, we forget that God is able. Maybe when you are struggling with something or are overwhelmed with stress, you have forgotten that God is able. As Christians, we sometimes fail to believe. Perhaps you are one who does not want to admit it. But, unless we are sinless, we have all failed to really believe at one point. There are times in our Christian walk when we are forced to look at the task at hand, to look at what we need to do and then we begin to doubt, or just flat out suffer from unbelief. Well, the Bible mentions a conversation like this that took place between Jesus and the father of a child who was in that same situation. In Mk. 9:21-24, Jesus “… asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And oftimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mk. 9:21-24.
Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. I think this statement sums up the faith of so many. Many times we believe in a general sense, but don’t believe for our own circumstances. Or perhaps, we may believe in God, but never go far enough in our belief to obey him. Well, sere is a man who has a small degree of faith in the power of Christ, but it was mixed with much unbelief because of the suffering of his family. The father knew that he had barely any strength in his faith, it was deficient and he was asking the Lord to increase it, to strengthen it so that he might be strong in faith and give God the glory. If we continue to read past these verses, we find that Jesus meets the faith of this father where he is and ends up delivering the child. Well, Jesus in a sense, is like that today. In coming to the earth, dying for us on the cross and asking us to come to Him, He is attempting to meet man where we are and desires us to come to Him. Having unbelief can stop us from seeing what we need to see in God. Having unbelief can bring discouragement to God’s people (Num. 13:31). Having unbelief weakens us (Eph. 6:16), takes peace from us. So, we need to allow God to transform us in the way we think (Rom. 12:2). We need to study the word of God and act upon it, which bring faith (Rom. 10:17). We need to believe in God. We need to take some time sharing with God areas where we are struggling to believe. Ask him to give you faith to trust him like never before. Remember what Jesus said, “all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mk. 9:23).