Surpassing Unbelief

Leviticus 26:3-13; Psalm 46; Mark 9:14-24

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

06 March 2005

We are called to believe. Believing comes easy at times. At other times, believing is hard. We are called to trust God in faith, and in part we do. We believe that God exists. We believe that we have God’s message for us in the Bible. We believe that Jesus came to show us God’s love and extend grace toward us as sinners. We believe that God provides, but we expect God to provide through means that we foresee and can understand.

There are times we are tempted to live by something other than faith. There are points at which we balk when it comes to trusting God. We may be tempted by the philosophy of “God helps those who help themselves,” by which we mean, “Forget God, I’m on my own.” What does it mean to have vital faith when life is uncertain and our resolve to trust is stretched to its limit? How do we believe when circumstances tell us there is no point? Is God really there or even care when I’m at wit’s end?

The Exodus from Egypt didn’t require the Hebrews to trust Yahweh. Successfully leaving Egypt did teach them trust, since they were called on to do nothing other than await God’s intervention. At the sea, they cried out and God intervened once again. Now in Leviticus, God’s word has to do with a much greater sense of trust. It is one thing to find ourselves cornered by enemies and ask for aid. It is quite another to trust God enough to march against enemies who are stronger and greater in number. There is a big difference between remaining in safety and risking everything for the chance of something better.

Here we find God’s promise for future protection. That is nice and comfortable to hear. On the other hand, those words would not be such a great comfort when the people were to come face to face with foes that outnumber them. The picture of five soldiers putting a hundred to flight sounds great until I am forced to place myself in the boots of one of those five. A band of one hundred chasing down ten thousand sounds great until I have to do the chasing.

Trusting God sounds nice and easy as long as it is just theory. Trusting God with eternity is a simple matter. When I am called to trust God with issues of survival, things suddenly seem different. Is God faithful to provide when I am confronted with possibly losing a job? Can I safely obey when all evidence points to financial crisis or opening myself to attack?

We are taught not to gamble. We pick the risks we take carefully. We consider tried and true as generally the best and safest route to take. If it has worked before, it is likely to work again. We weigh the outcomes along with the risks and choose a path that is comfortable. “Don’t rock the boat.” “Don’t stir up trouble.” “Don’t play with fire.”

The disciples had been given authority to heal and cast out demons. They were taking on part of Jesus’ ministry of meeting the immediate needs of the people. While Jesus was up on the mountain during the Transfiguration, the disciples came up against issues they couldn’t handle. The disciples did their best, but they were unable to help the boy with epilepsy. The father came to Jesus, begging for intervention. He spoke of how the son had often been thrown into fire or water by the convulsions that tormented him. He begged Jesus to help if there were anything He could do.

“If?! Is there anything that is impossible for God?” Certainly there were things that were impossible for the disciples, but for Jesus? for God? How could anyone even think such a thing, much less, say it? Aren’t faith and doubt complete opposites? How could they ever exist under the same roof, much less in the same person?

It is easy to pass judgment on this father unless we place ourselves in his shoes. When we look at him as one who has faced the realities of a child’s consistent health issues, his mix of belief and doubt becomes much more acceptable and real. We find him struggling between trusting that God can heal and being uncertain as to whether God desires to heal. We find in the back of his mind the unspoken question now coming to the fore as to whether God really is even able to intervene.

Jesus highlights the doubt in the father’s question, but does not seem to be overly bothered by it. It would seem that the father is the one most affected. Jesus calls him to task, but does not allow these doubts to interfere with a response of grace. As God was gentle with Gideon’s doubts at facing enemies who would far outnumber him, Jesus showers mercy and grace upon this father in the face of the doubts which surface in the face of the fatigue from the stress of years.

Jesus’ compassion is greater than the strength and purity of human faith. God does not allow the realities of our hidden doubts to overcome the blessings of grace. “Lord, I do believe, but I cannot allay my doubts!” “Lord, I would trust you, but I am weak inside and struggle to allow faith to overcome my fears!” “Lord, I so want to believe, but anxiety robs me of resolve to trust.”

The disciples would struggle with the same issues. How would they trust Jesus’ words regarding the death and suffering of Messiah, when it ran counter to all they had known? How would they survive the doubts regarding Jesus’ identity when the cross became a reality? How would they respond when they had abandoned Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? How would they return to Jesus after having failed to live according to the faith they claimed?

The faith of God’s people has never been wholly pure. Of twelve spies sent into Canaan, only two were confident of Yahweh’s provision for victory. Forty years later, they marched against a walled city, only to be frightened by enemies with chariots. Faith and doubt, doubt and faith, seem forever mixed within the heart of frail humanity. Like the father in Mark 9, we feel shame when confronted with our failure.

God does not seem nearly so shocked. God knows the realities of our hearts, the struggle it is to allow faith to overcome unfaith, belief to triumph over doubt. God calls us into the unknown, trusting beyond our unbelief. Jesus calls us to confess our doubts and allow faith to carry us through. God invites us to believe when experience tells us otherwise. Jesus invites us to live by the demands of the gospel when the world tells us to keep personal issues ahead of all else.

Is the gospel worth taking a risk? How will we respond to the need to step beyond our issues of comfort, routine, and self-preservation to become agents for the reign of God? Will we choose to believe beyond our doubts? Will we allow faith to surpass the limits of our unbelief? What difference will faith make in our decisions and in the use of our resources and time? When God calls us to faithful service, how shall we respond?

—©Copyright 2005 Christopher B. Harbin

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