Help Me Overcome My Unbelief

Help Me Overcome My Unbelief

10.14.18 [Mark 9:20-27] River of Life (October Video Devotional)

It always catches me off guard, but October is finally here. Although we started the month off with a scary hot day, there are other reasons people call this spooky season. The decorations have begun to pop up. The stores are filled with candy bags. The signs for corn mazes & haunted houses are going to become more and more popular, too. TV commercials promote scary movies with music in a minor key.

When you look around it’s obvious that people are really into this spooky season stuff. Maybe you find that kind of stuff intriguing or fascinating. Maybe it’s just eerie or frightening.

But the thing about Halloween decorations, haunted houses, and scary movies is we know they’re not real. They may look really realistic. They may be really scary. They may even really make you jump with fright, but they’re not really real. And there’s something comforting about that, isn’t there? You can go up to a spooky-looking door, you can walk through a haunted house, you can watch a scary movie and know that you are going to be fine. It can’t hurt you. It can only scare you.

But not everything that is dark and scary works that way. In Mark 9, we meet a man who had come face to face with evil. He saw its awful power and dreadful intentions overwhelming his little boy. Not only had this dark spirit robbed this child of his ability to hear and speak, but it was also constantly trying to kill him. The boy would have bouts of convulsions, where he would fall to the ground, foam at the mouth, and shake like he was having a seizure. Watching that kind of thing happening to your child is terrifying enough when you’re told it’s a neurological issue. But the father knew it was something more. It was a spiritual problem. His son was possessed by an evil spirit.

The father’s diagnosis was confirmed when he brought his son to Jesus. When the evil spirit recognized Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. As he saw this terrible sight, Jesus asked the boy’s father how long the boy had been suffering like this.

The father responded by telling Jesus the sad state of affairs. Since childhood, this demon had been trying to throw the boy into fire or water to kill him.

Can you imagine the father’s pain? His heartbreak? His desperation?

So he cried out to Jesus: If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us! For a moment, the father forgot who he was talking to.

And Jesus recognized this. He identified the hesitancy, the uncertainty, and the doubts that had this man all tied up in knots. At this moment, this father would have taken any measure of relief. But Jesus doesn’t heal anyone halfway. He doesn’t negotiate with demons. So Jesus responded by addressing the man’s doubts and fears head-on. If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.

The boy’s father acknowledged that Jesus was right and that he was also still weak and weary. He didn’t make any excuses. He asked Jesus for help. I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief! He needed Jesus’ mercy for more than a moment. He needed Jesus’ help for more than just his son’s exorcism.

Have you been there? You don’t have to be face to face with demonic forces to need help overcoming your unbelief. When your health is failing, when a relationship is falling apart, when the future is uncertain and scary, it’s easy to be controlled by cynicism. It’s natural to think there must be something you must do to make it better. But we can’t overcome our unbelief on our own. We need Jesus.

He is the One who has the power to eternally evict demons. He is the One who has the power to strengthen our faith and conquer our doubts and fears. That’s what he did for this father and son. That’s what he does for all of us.

That’s why the weekly rhythm of worship is so valuable. That’s why time and energy invested in reading and contemplating the Word of God is worthwhile. We are constantly assaulted by doubts and fears, worries and anxieties—we need Jesus’ help. He does not demand that we purify our hearts. He does that for us. He does not expect that we just trust him more. He shows us why he is trustworthy. He is and has always been faithful. Powerful. And loving. Because of Jesus, we can really fear no evil.