Jesus deals the death blow to our unbelieving heart!
Mark 9:24 – The child’s father immediately cried out and said with tears, “I do believe. Help me with my unbelief!”
How do you deal with something beyond your power? In all my years, I have never seen anyone possessed by a demon. Maybe you have, but most of you are probably like me. Can we even begin to imagine our child possessed by a demon? This demon caused the child to be unable to speak, get ridged, foam at the mouth, get thrown down, and grind his teeth. No one was able to help this father and his child. What a helpless feeling indeed!
Again, I have never knowingly come across demon possession. But I have met children who have similar issues medically. My daughter suffers from some of these issues, just not the possession part. It is a helpless feeling watching your child have a seizure and there is little anyone can do to help. Sure, there are medications, but sometimes it takes a while for the medicine to work. Then the devil seizes the opportunity. In our helpless state, he makes the claim that Jesus does not care because if he did, why is your child suffering? Why is he not helping?
This was probably going through the father’s mind. But he recognized where the doubts were coming from. “I do believe. Help me with my unbelief!” The devil preys on the weakness of our sinful hearts, the center of our unbelief. Jesus deals with the unbelieving heart by showing us the power of his loving heart. He healed that child from the demon, but even more amazing, he healed the man of unbelief. Jesus accomplished this for us as well! When he stilled his heart in death, he crushed the unbelieving heart within us. By rising from the dead, he has given us a new heart of faith that holds on to his promises. This is where we turn when the doubts rise. In focusing on Jesus’ death and resurrection, our unbelieving hearts remain dead and our new hearts of faith continue to live.
Dear Lord of all, continue to help us in our unbelief! Keep us going back to the power of your death and resurrection whenever doubts assault us. Whenever we feel overwhelmed, let us look to you for strength and healing. In your name we pray, Amen.