40 DAYS in the GOSPEL Sample

WHERE IS DEFEAT TAKING YOU?

“...so I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” (Mark 9:18)

In our text, there is a theme of defeat. The disciples are completely ineffective against the evil spirit plaguing the man's son and the father himself knows that his faith is not up to the challenge of trusting that Jesus can do anything for him either.

I (Josiah) hate feeling defeated. It makes it worse for me that defeat seems to hurt worse the harder you try. Passivity has its pains for sure, but nothing seems to sting quite like giving something all that you have only to find out that you are not able to overcome. Does faith in Jesus and defeat have anything to do with each other? Is faith another task that some can handle but most would be better off leaving to the professionals? It seems to depend on where you let defeat take you.

The disciples failed publicly. It causes a scene in which Jesus overhears. I don’t know about you, but I think I would have gotten the hint and gone back to the fishing business after Jesus had to intervene and clean up my mess. I know this because I've done it. After really feeling like a failure in my walk of faith I have run home looking for some way to just stay out of the way till judgment day. Thankfully, God always comes and finds me and gets me back on the road that shows me that defeat and faith do in fact intersect. The disciples see it too, which is why after it's all over they go to Jesus and ask, "why could we not cast it out?"

The father of the demon-afflicted boy has his moment of public failure. The Son of God Himself is offering to help. And in pain-filled desperation, the father says if you can do anything, please help. When Jesus repeated his “if” back to Him to correct his doubt I would have been, once again, making my way quietly back home. This man has come too far for that though. His love for his suffering son has given him deeper insight than that. He gathers the faith he does have, mixes it with complete honesty, and answers Jesus, “I do believe, help me with my unbelief!"

I hope you too have come too far to just quit. Defeat would like to push you that way, but what the gospel tells us is that God is waiting right there at the moment of defeat. He’s not standing there with disapproval but rather He is waiting there to show you that when you question honestly and cry out to Him with the faith you do have, He is there. Defeat and faith meet right at the crossroads of Jesus' cross and from there is a victory that does not depend on us but does include us. I believe. Help me Jesus with my unbelief.

PRAY ABOUT IT: Instead of avoiding those areas of doubt in your life, why not bring them honestly to God? He already knows. It can feel like the only honest thing to do when we are defeated and full of doubt is to quit. But what if prayer is a better way? The surrender of getting on our knees to pray is what faith looks like in the face of defeat.