July 21, 2024

Mark 9:23-24

²³ Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

There are those who teach that all things are possible with God. Technically, this is correct. But impossible things do not occur automatically. And many who are teaching that all things are possible with God are not teaching this in proper balance. They leave you with the impression that the miraculous is all up to God. It isn’t. But if you believe that the miraculous is all up to God, you will erroneously blame God when the miraculous does not occur.

God does not intervene and do impossible things for us ARBITRARILY. The power to accomplish the impossible only flows through belief. We call this “faith.”

The father of this demon possessed child asked Jesus to have compassion and do something. In fact, the father tried to put all the responsibility on Jesus. But Jesus did not accept all the responsibility for this miracle. He told this man, “IF YOU can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

The implication here is that if you can’t believe, then nothing is going to be able to be done to help your child. Shockingly, Jesus was telling him that His power could not override the man’s unbelief!

Now those who teach an unbalanced viewpoint of God’s sovereignty will try to convince you that the miracle is completely at the mercy and decision of God. But Jesus didn’t believe this and never operated in this manner. The miraculous always occurred in a partnership between God and man.

God supplies the power. But the power cannot flow unless it flows through faith. And unbelief will stop the flow of God’s power!

This father admitted that he had some mixed feelings here, and that these mixed feelings were a problem. He believed. And yet he also had doubts (unbelief). And the two were cancelling each other out.

Jesus said that “all things are possible to him who believes.” He did not say that all things are possible to him who doubts. Nor did he say that all things are possible to him who has belief and doubt at the same time. And he sure didn’t tell the man, “don’t worry, I can override your unbelief and do the miraculous anyway.”

This principle is still in effect. God’s power flows though belief. It cannot flow through doubt. His power is always flowing from His throne. But it can be shut off on our end.

How do we fix the problem on our end if we find that we are struggling with unbelief? Jesus said later in this passage that this kind of unbelief can only be overcome through prayer and fasting.

Prayer and fasting don’t change God. His power is always flowing from His throne. But prayer and fasting change us. They help us destroy the power of our tendency to doubt.

All things are possible to him who believes. And if you can’t believe, that’s when it’s time for prayer and fasting so you can fix the problem.