Mark 9:14-32
Faith of a Father
14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
19"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From childhood," he answered. 22"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Matthew 7:24-29
Building a Strong Faith Foundation
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
A father had faith in Jesus' disciples...So he brought his sick son to them to heal...The disciples could not heal his child...And up to this point, he had not met Jesus...So the father had faith when he brought his son to the disciples, and then had some doubt when they could not heal him...
I think this is common...We have faith and then it gets thrown back a little when we have problems, or troubles, or suffering and they do not end as quick as we want...We doubt...The father's troubles did not end with the disciples not healing his son...Had his son been healed, it is very likely that his faith would have increased -at that moment...However, his son has a seizure and falls to the ground and has a convulsion...His father has now journeyed from belief to doubt now to unbelief...The frightened father, because of his son's ills, has turned his doubt into unbelief...
I think doubt is not the same as unbelief...Doubt lies somewhere between your belief and your unbelief...Belief, doubt, and unbelief are mixed throughout our lives...Faith is never perfect in humans...If anyone had the perfect faith, it was Jesus...And He still does...
Doubts are something we must learn to understand in our lives...We will have doubts but we must not linger on our doubts for weeks and months...And the longer we hold on to our doubts, the more likely over time these doubts will turn into unbelief...Doubt and unbelief are more likely to happen by an sad event, an unexplainable "something" that shakes our belief...Lingering doubts and long term doubts have a negative impact on our faith and our belief...We must realize this...
Faith needs to be worked at and practiced...The Bible needs to be read regularly...We must believe that Jesus and His Father are divine...Faith generally is not something that just pops in your mind one day, and then you are full of faith...One day I do not believe in Jesus, and the next day I am filled with the Holy Spirit -is not the way it works...
Faith is a process...Faith is much like good health...Good health is a process...We will have some troubles in our lives with our health...No doubt we will have a few colds, few stomach aches, and a few backaches throughout our lives, and maybe some other issues...But if we practice eating right, exercising, not smoking, and watching your alcohol intake, we can improve our health...These good habits help and assist our health...In faith, if we practice reading the Bible, going to church, helping others, and follow the teachings of Jesus our faith will grow and mature...It will get better...These good habits improve our faith...We will have some troubles in our lives with our faith...Doubts and uncertainties will come in our lives...When these do the things we have practiced in our faith, they will make our faith a strong foundation in our lives...
Doubts and uncertainty can be answered...C. S. Lewis said if ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt...If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger...It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply...The father had his son healed by Jesus...His doubts are answered...He knows God more certainly and more deeply...