Faith Despite Doubt

The boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
–Mark 9:24

When we face challenges, Satan loves to taunt us with questions: Where is your God now? If God is really who He says He is, then why isn’t He helping you? Is God not as powerful as the Bible says? Does God even exist? Doubt is natural. But if we water the seeds of doubt, they can sprout into unbelief.

There’s a difference between honest doubt and unbelief. Doubters ask questions, but unbelievers refuse answers.

Part of the reason we doubt is that it’s hard doing business with an infinite God. In Isaiah 55:8–9, God said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways. . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” This is why, when we doubt, running to God for answers is an act of faith in and of itself. Doubt and faith can coexist. Going to God when we have doubts shows that we believe.

We see a great example of this in Mark 9 during Jesus’ interaction with a distraught father. The man’s son was possessed by a demon who regularly tried to kill the boy by drowning him or throwing him into the fire. The father had come to the end of his rope, and all he could do was cry out to Jesus. “If You can do anything,” the father said, “take pity on us and help us!” (v. 22). Jesus said, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes” (v. 23). I love the father’s response: “Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief’” (v. 24). He was saying, “Lord, I can muster up only a tiny bit of faith. I’m asking you to help me with my lack of faith.” And Jesus commanded the demon to come out of the boy.

Here’s the good news: It doesn’t take a lot of faith to move the hand of God. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said with only a little bit of faith, you can move mountains. Your itty-bitty faith coupled with God’s tremendous power can accomplish anything.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Moving from Doubt to Faith,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.