Hidden PotentialSample

Today we are going to address a thorny question: Why do we believe God can do things for others but can’t do anything for us? 

In the Bible, the apostle Mark told of a time when a man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus. The man said to Jesus, “If you can?” in regard to his son’s healing. To which Jesus replied, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

The boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Did the man believe or not believe? We can be certain the man believed because he brought his son to Jesus to be healed. That being true, why did he cry out to Jesus to help his unbelief?

The father had faith, but in that moment, he realized the faith that had brought him to Jesus wasn’t as strong as it should have been. Another way of saying this is that the man believed what Jesus could do for others but wasn’t sure that Jesus could do the same thing for him and his son.

We will have times when we momentarily struggle to believe God’s promises and have to fight to make His Word an anchor for our soul. This man was one of many in the Bible who were confronted with unbelief. The disciples wrestled with unbelief when people needed to be fed and they only had some fish and bread (John 6:1–15). When her brother died, Martha found it hard to believe that Jesus could do anything about Lazarus’s death (John 11:38–44). We can’t forget Thomas, who, after spending years with Jesus, seeing Him perform miracles, and hearing of the plans for His crucifixion and resurrection, had to touch the holes in Jesus’s body before he would completely believe (John 20:24–29).

Wrestling with believing that God can do will strengthen our faith. However, when we allow unbelief to convince us He can’t do or won’t do, that’s when our faith begins to fracture. Just as He gives us His Word, God gives His children the Holy Spirit to help them reconcile their unbelief and realign their faith with the truth of His Word. He will lead us to know who He is because we are created to know Him.

Prayer: God, help my unbelief. Show me in Your Word this week the truth of who I am because I belong to You. I choose to believe that You can do for me anything You have intended or desired. In Jesus’s name.