Fighting the Flesh #4: Unbelief
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”—Hebrews 3:12
Unbelief. Some have it, some don’t. Some never struggle with unbelief. I think we all have a struggle with it at some time or another. We may be like John the Baptist when he was in prison—faced with the grim reality of a pagan ruler’s whims and blatant disregard for God’s law. He was placed in prison, when he knew that God’s Messiah, Jesus the Christ, was in the world. It didn’t make sense to him. Why was he languishing in prison if Jesus was the coming one who was going to make all wrongs right? Why was he suffering under such injustice when the ruler of the universe was just a few miles away? It was a paradox of faith, so in an effort to resolve the tension, John sent his disciples to inquire if Jesus was really the one who was to come or was there somebody else? Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. Jesus responds to their question by healing “many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight”—Luke 7:21. He then answers them saying,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me"—Luke 7:22-23.
Jesus sought to increase John’s faith by reminding him of what He was doing: fulfilling the prophecies and promises of God in the Old Testament. He was the one who was to come. John was right to trust in Christ, but his understanding of Christ’s purpose was incomplete. Christ came to liberate and heal and restore the created order, just not in the way that John understood it. John had to recalibrate his faith.
In the book of Hebrews we are warned about letting an unbelieving heart develop in our lives. We can let unresolved problems, theological issues, difficult relationships, complicated circumstances, or a host of other issues tear away our faith. Consider Jesus’ interaction with the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:14-29. He had brought his boy to Jesus’ disciples to see if they could help him. He had a “spirit,” or demon that made him mute (v. 17). The demon would seize him, throw him to the ground, and then cause him to grind his teeth and foam at the mouth while becoming rigid. If you have ever seen somebody have a seizure, then you understand. Not all seizures have demons at their root, but this one did.
The father had asked Jesus’ disciples to cast the demon out of the boy, but try as they might the demon remained. Their inability to remove the demon caused an argument between the father and the disciples, which escalated to the point where a crowd gathered around them, until Jesus arrived. Upon receiving the details and assessing the situation, He requested the boy be brought to Him (v. 19). But, upon being summoned, the demon threw the boy to the ground in a seizure.
He asked how long the boy had been suffering with this demon (v. 21) and discovered it had been since his childhood (v. 21), with the demon trying to burn, drown, or simply outright kill him (v. 22). Exasperated, tired, and at the end of himself the father said to Jesus, “But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (v. 22).
Such a statement was unfathomable! Here was the Son of God, the Savior of the world, Him by whom everything was created and is upheld by the Word of His Power. He was and is the divine eternal Son, in whom are all of the mysteries of the Godhead, standing here in front of this man. No wonder Jesus said, “'If You can'! All things are possible for one who believes” (v. 23).
Jesus wanted to increase this man’s faith. God works in and through us. He had, can, and will, in His own time, demonstrate His power in instances such as this, although He may not. Jesus wanted this father to know who He was. His challenge of belief sparked a volcanic eruption of desperation and hope, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (v. 24). Jesus cast out the demon and the boy was healed, but the father’s prayer has been written so that we might, like him, cry out in times of great desperation, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Ultimately our faith rests entirely upon Him and in the darkest moments when hope seems lost, we say, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
We need to be on guard against unbelief, because it creeps upon us like a winter’s chill, but before we know it, we have frost bite and lose what is most valuable to us. How do we be on guard against such a subtle and vicious enemy? We maintain vigilance by continually meeting and fellowshipping with God’s people. For within them, we are warmed by the Spirit’s continual fire. Or, as the author of Hebrews has written, we keep “exhort[ing] one another every day, as long as it is called ’today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”—Hebrews 3:13.
We gather with God’s people to be encouraged in the faith. Another way to fight against an unbelieving heart is to cry out more often for God to increase our faith, or it may be that we, like John the Baptist, need to recalibrate our understanding of God’s workings.
The end result of all our battles is resting in faith. Faith is the counteraction to unbelief and faith is not something we can conjure up, but it is a mental and spiritual assent, afforded by the Holy Spirit, and appropriated by our will whereby we believe/trust/rest in Christ. God gives us faith, yet we are to put it into practice. When times are tough and life doesn’t make sense, we continually call out to God, “I believe; help my unbelief.” Amen.
Unbelief. Some have it, some don’t. Some never struggle with unbelief. I think we all have a struggle with it at some time or another. We may be like John the Baptist when he was in prison—faced with the grim reality of a pagan ruler’s whims and blatant disregard for God’s law. He was placed in prison, when he knew that God’s Messiah, Jesus the Christ, was in the world. It didn’t make sense to him. Why was he languishing in prison if Jesus was the coming one who was going to make all wrongs right? Why was he suffering under such injustice when the ruler of the universe was just a few miles away? It was a paradox of faith, so in an effort to resolve the tension, John sent his disciples to inquire if Jesus was really the one who was to come or was there somebody else? Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. Jesus responds to their question by healing “many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight”—Luke 7:21. He then answers them saying,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me"—Luke 7:22-23.
Jesus sought to increase John’s faith by reminding him of what He was doing: fulfilling the prophecies and promises of God in the Old Testament. He was the one who was to come. John was right to trust in Christ, but his understanding of Christ’s purpose was incomplete. Christ came to liberate and heal and restore the created order, just not in the way that John understood it. John had to recalibrate his faith.
In the book of Hebrews we are warned about letting an unbelieving heart develop in our lives. We can let unresolved problems, theological issues, difficult relationships, complicated circumstances, or a host of other issues tear away our faith. Consider Jesus’ interaction with the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:14-29. He had brought his boy to Jesus’ disciples to see if they could help him. He had a “spirit,” or demon that made him mute (v. 17). The demon would seize him, throw him to the ground, and then cause him to grind his teeth and foam at the mouth while becoming rigid. If you have ever seen somebody have a seizure, then you understand. Not all seizures have demons at their root, but this one did.
The father had asked Jesus’ disciples to cast the demon out of the boy, but try as they might the demon remained. Their inability to remove the demon caused an argument between the father and the disciples, which escalated to the point where a crowd gathered around them, until Jesus arrived. Upon receiving the details and assessing the situation, He requested the boy be brought to Him (v. 19). But, upon being summoned, the demon threw the boy to the ground in a seizure.
He asked how long the boy had been suffering with this demon (v. 21) and discovered it had been since his childhood (v. 21), with the demon trying to burn, drown, or simply outright kill him (v. 22). Exasperated, tired, and at the end of himself the father said to Jesus, “But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (v. 22).
Such a statement was unfathomable! Here was the Son of God, the Savior of the world, Him by whom everything was created and is upheld by the Word of His Power. He was and is the divine eternal Son, in whom are all of the mysteries of the Godhead, standing here in front of this man. No wonder Jesus said, “'If You can'! All things are possible for one who believes” (v. 23).
Jesus wanted to increase this man’s faith. God works in and through us. He had, can, and will, in His own time, demonstrate His power in instances such as this, although He may not. Jesus wanted this father to know who He was. His challenge of belief sparked a volcanic eruption of desperation and hope, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (v. 24). Jesus cast out the demon and the boy was healed, but the father’s prayer has been written so that we might, like him, cry out in times of great desperation, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Ultimately our faith rests entirely upon Him and in the darkest moments when hope seems lost, we say, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
We need to be on guard against unbelief, because it creeps upon us like a winter’s chill, but before we know it, we have frost bite and lose what is most valuable to us. How do we be on guard against such a subtle and vicious enemy? We maintain vigilance by continually meeting and fellowshipping with God’s people. For within them, we are warmed by the Spirit’s continual fire. Or, as the author of Hebrews has written, we keep “exhort[ing] one another every day, as long as it is called ’today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”—Hebrews 3:13.
We gather with God’s people to be encouraged in the faith. Another way to fight against an unbelieving heart is to cry out more often for God to increase our faith, or it may be that we, like John the Baptist, need to recalibrate our understanding of God’s workings.
The end result of all our battles is resting in faith. Faith is the counteraction to unbelief and faith is not something we can conjure up, but it is a mental and spiritual assent, afforded by the Holy Spirit, and appropriated by our will whereby we believe/trust/rest in Christ. God gives us faith, yet we are to put it into practice. When times are tough and life doesn’t make sense, we continually call out to God, “I believe; help my unbelief.” Amen.
Is it just me or is 'Unbelief' the best 'Meditation In A Tool Shed' to date! Each meditation you write is good but this one is over the top for me. Thank you and may almighty God continue to bless you with His wisdom and grace!
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