Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9:23-24 NKJV
What does Jesus mean by, “If you can believe”? Is faith an ability that some have, and others do not? Is faith something we can muster in trying times, or dig out from some hidden reserve? And what are we to make of this man, who believes (who clearly wants to believe) but is struck by the depth of his unbelief?
Most people understand faith to mean a leap beyond their ability to see, or reason, or justify. Or, they may see it as a summoning of some inner resource in order to bridge a gap. Faith, in our culture, is the tape used to mend the rift between some present reality and what we think that reality ought to be. But that is not faith.
The idea of faith seems to come into play most commonly when, in the jigsaws of our lives, a new piece comes to light that seems to have no place, or a new gap is presented with the outline of an impossibly-shaped piece. Then we jiggle and juggle all of our data in an effort to figure out what we are missing. For we must at all costs end the torment of our inability to explain our lives. And so, we have created this silly putty we call faith, to fill the gaps and prevent our reason from seeping away.
But is that what Jesus meant? Or did He mean, believe him? Faith is not a blind leap, but a real trust in a real God. As James Montgomery Boice explains in his book, Two Cities, Two Loves, faith is not subjective. That is, faith is not dependent in any way upon us. He who has made the promise is faithful. Faith is not a warm fuzzy feeling, nor is it some great leap we make past reason and logic. It is a trust placed upon a thoroughly dependable and competent God. Faith becomes, on this realization, a matter more of obedience than of hope. Faith is trust which is properly placed on the object of that trust, namely God. And it is God who makes that trust utterly reasonable and prudent.
What we may trust God for is another matter, and one best answered with prayer and the Word of God. But we are told that faith is a gift of God, and that God gives generously to those who ask. And so, the man’s answer to Jesus seems most appropriate after all. Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief.
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