Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”  Mark 9:24 NKJV

As Christians, when life is hard and we are in difficult situations, we hear the words, “just have faith; or, just trust the Lord.”  And even as non-believers who find themselves in complicated or tough times, you hear words like “keep your chin up; or, just hope for the best.”

While I believe that all of these words are said with the intention to encourage, it doesn’t always have that effect.  Let’s be real.  We do want to trust the Lord, keep our chin up, and hope for the best; but, sometimes we still struggle with doubts and fears – unbelief.

In Mark 9, we read of the emotional state of a father whose son was possessed by a demonic spirit.  We don’t know the age of the boy.  We only know that the father told Jesus that he had been this way since childhood.  The evil spirit would cause the boy to have seizures, convulsions, throw himself to the ground while foaming at the mouth; and, at times, the spirit would throw the boy into the fire or water to try to kill him.

I can imagine the desperation and emotional state of this father.  He brings his son to the disciples and they were unable to free the boy of this spirit.  The father then turns to Jesus saying, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  Jesus responds to the father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

It is then the father replies, crying out with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”  This story is recorded in Matthew and in Luke, but it is only in Mark’s Gospel that we see the “vivid, compelling and emotional descriptions” of this situation.  (I.e. taken from The Jesus Bible)

I am thankful for Marks description because I can identify with this father.  As Christians, faith in Jesus is foundational.  We must have faith to accept Jesus in our hearts, the forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life that only Jesus can give.  So yes, I know that faith believes before receiving the answer.  I know that we are to trust in the Lord and not doubt.  But in all reality, in the moments that we need Jesus to intervene, to heal, to provide financially, or get us through dark times, doubts and fears of “what if Jesus doesn’t” can bombard us.  The battle between belief and unbelief rages within.

But!  I love the fact that this father bears his soul in honest confession to Jesus, “…help my unbelief.”  I have been guilty of praying while at the same time trying to muster up all the faith I could to cover my unbelief.    

The truth is we cannot store up all the faith we need – it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9.)  Growing in faith is a constant process of choosing every day to renew ourselves in the Word of God and to grow in trusting and depending on Jesus.

So, let’s stop beating ourselves up over our unbelief.  Remember, we are not in a religion being judged based on our performance; we are in a relationship with a loving Savior calling us to come to him with honest and sincere hearts.  Jesus already sees and knows us, and He loves us anyway!