https://odb.org/2024/02/28/help-my-unbelief
Mark 9:24 is indeed a paradox as it expresses both belief and unbelief in the same breadth. The man with a son who was demon possessed believed and yet had unbelief. I guess we face this issue too every now and then. We believe God could do something, but perhaps we do not believe He will do it for us. We know God heals, and we have been given spiritual authority to heal, and yet we may not believe strongly enough that God will heal us or others. The human logic is surely God will not heal in every instance. It’s a logic supported by facts. The reality is that healing does not take place in every instance. There is still the question of God’s mercy and grace, as well as His divine timing. We may believe that now is the right time, but is that God’s timing?
Fortunately, Mark 9:24 helps us out of this quagmire. If we have unbelief, we may pray and ask the Lord to help us overcome this unbelief. Sometimes, God helps us by giving us smaller victories so that we may be able to believe Him for bigger things. In all things, start small although we may dream big. Take small steps first. As they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take one step at a time and walk before we run.
On the other hand, faith should not be blind. There are times we could trust and believe without understanding. We can not see how this could happen, but we believe in God and trust Him to somehow make it happen in His time. Yet, we should believe in understanding. Not only with God but other things as well. People are scammed because they blindly believe. With things of God, we have the approach in Mark 9:24, which may be better paraphrased as “I want to fully believe, but I can’t – help me, O Lord.”
The beauty of our faith is that it is a relationship with Jesus. When we are weak, even in matters of faith, the Holy Spirit will help and strengthen us. All we need to do is ask and pray. We are made strong in our weaknesses. We are made rich in our poverty in spirit. It is rarely a test of how much faith we have but more opportunities for Christ to give us more as we reach out to Him.
Ronnie's Thoughts 