“I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF!”

 Mark 9:14-29                                       (ESV)

“14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.

15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw HIM, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted HIM.

16 And HE asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?"

17 And someone from the crowd answered him, "TEACHER, I brought my son to YOU, for he has a spirit that makes him mute.

18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked YOUR disciples to cast it out, and they were not able."

19 And HE answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me."

20 And they brought the boy to HIM. And when the spirit saw HIM, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

21 And JESUS asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood.

22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But IF YOU CAN do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

23 And JESUS said to him, "'IF YOU CAN'! ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ONE WHO BELIEVES."

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "”I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF!"”

25 And when JESUS saw that a crowd came running together, HE rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."

26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead."

27 But JESUS took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

28 And when HE had entered the house, HIS disciples asked HIM privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"

29 And HE said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."”

There is a song entitled “I BELIEVE; HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF” written by Bill Gaither.  The song was probably written using the King James Version of the Bible, as the words are almost precisely from the text.  The CEV (Contemporary English Version) puts it like this: “I do have faith!  Please help me to have even more.”  While I have never use this translation, it OPENED MY EYES to SEE this morning what this father was dealing with as his demon possessed son was being torn apart.  

While I have two sons, I have never feared that they were controlled by the devil, especially to the point of hurting themselves or those around them.  My sons are imperfect, as every human (outside of JESUS) is!  This man hoped that JESUS could rid his son of the spirit that had been with him "From childhood”.  This “unclean spirit” was causing the son to “often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him”!  The feeling of helplessness must have been overwhelming!  Could it be that this father saw JESUS as his last hope???

It might be that we experience trauma in our lives that seems to be beyond our abilities to conquer?  JESUS told the father of the afflicted son “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ONE WHO BELIEVES”.  Personally, my blood pressure has required medication since I was 33 years old.  Could JESUS cause it to be normal almost 27 years later?  “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ONE WHO BELIEVES”!  There are many things that cause me to Believe that this is IMPOSSIBLE, but JESUS says “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ONE WHO BELIEVES."  

LORD, “I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF!" is the only thing that I can say about my healing from this disease.  Losing weight would probably help, but being a Brain Hemorrhage survivor would make it awfully difficult for a medical professional to admit that I no longer needed hypertension medication.  JESUS says in Mark 10:27 “With man it is impossible, but not with GOD. For all things are possible with GOD."  “I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF”, GOD!  YOU can do anything, including saving a wretch like me!!!