Where do you need to have faith?

There is this account in the book of Mark of a man whose son was possessed by a demon from childhood. This demon caused his boy to convulse, foam at the mouth and become rigid. The man came to the Lord Jesus asking for him to cast the demon out.

'Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”

Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”'

Mark 9:17-24

Have you ever wondered where you needed faith? Last year, I realised that I needed faith to believe that God not only loved me but cares for me. Now, you might be wondering what this has anything to do with account above so let me show you.

This father had faith enough to ask for help, however, he said something very interesting to the Lord Jesus: But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. That word "if" revealed the small doubt that he had hidden deep in him. The Lord immediately picked up on it and encouraged him to believe. This is where I found myself last year, knowing from the depth of my heart that God loved me but having moments where I wondered whether He cared for me. I realised through these moments that this is where I needed help with my faith. Like the father of this boy, I found myself praying, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”. And by God's grace, today, I have an appreciation and understanding of how deeply God loves me and cares for me. This understanding came through a series of life events where God consistently showed me just how much He cared for me.

Now like me, you might have an "if'" that is hiding some doubt in you. Doubt that is causing you question God's character, His heart towards you and what He can/cannot do. If you find yourself here, then I would encourage you to allow this doubt to cause you to pray the same prayer that that father cried out “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

The Lord is not afraid of our doubts, in fact He wants those doubts to lead us to deeper levels of faith in Him. So trust Him with you doubts and allow Him to show you just how much He truly cares for you.

'casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.'

I Peter 5:7

FN

"In Him we live & breathe & have our being"