"They brought the boy to (Jesus). When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' And he said, 'From childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!' And Jesus said to him, '‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'” Mark 9:20-24
A father was desperate for a cure for his son. Jesus' disciples had been unsuccessful, no doubt shaking what remained of the man's faith. Dialoguing with Jesus, he gave a brief history of the ailment, and then making what seems like a flippant request: "if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"
Did this desperate father have any idea who he was talking with? The question wasn't IF, but rather WHEN. Jesus' seemingly incredulous reply - 'If you can?' - provoked an honest and more faith-filled response: "I do believe; help my unbelief."
The problem had nothing to do with Jesus' ability, but rather the man's faith. And, with increasing faith, the man realized that even his ability to believe required help. He needed help from the Great Physician not only for a miracle for his son, but also to believe in the One who could enact that miracle. We might say that he initially had "blind faith" - faith in which the boundaries and limitations had not yet been explored and tested.
If our faith experience parallels that of this man, then we have an imperfect faith mixture. We believe, and yet we do not. It's like a plot of land in which we've walked and learned about some of it, but there are other areas where we have yet to tread. It's both discovered and undiscovered territory.
Dare we say that faith isn't faith until it is put to the test? Had this man not come to Jesus in a crisis, he likely would not have known how limited his faith really was. And so with us: it is amidst the crisis and trial that we most clearly see our faith for what it really is.
There is nothing wrong with imperfect faith so long as it is growing faith. Better that we should learn that we need help even with the ability to believe than to have a "blind faith" that does not know its limitations. May our faith experience be both honest and humble even as it is growing.
©Steve Taylor, 2022 --Used by permission
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