WHEN DO WE GROW?
Mark 9:23
“‘If You can’? said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
A crowd was arguing with Jesus’ disciples in Mark 9:14-15. When Jesus showed up, the crowd ran to greet Him.
“What are you arguing about?”
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to You. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told Your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.”
Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to teach you these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” When the demon saw Jesus, it caused the boy’s body to seize, and he fell writhing to the ground, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?”
“Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into the fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”
That’s when Jesus exploded with the opening Scripture. He sounds fed up with disciples (students) who don’t learn what He’s been trying to teach them for three years. The boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me in my unbelief!”
Mark 9:25-27 says that Jesus healed the boy. His stunned disciples asked Jesus why they were unsuccessful. Jesus answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.”
Was His disciples’ faith that weak? Is ours? Are we growing in our faith? If you have a hard time believing, you have little faith, a struggling faith.
God will grow our faith. But it comes only through learning His faithfulness in delivering us out of trouble. Growing faith means some hardship...for a little while...until our faith—or belief in God—grows up.
Great faith stands firmly on God’s truth, with all our focus on Him. This belief never wavers, but is confident that God does everything He promises. Check out Matthew 8:5-10. A man asked Jesus to heal his servant, and Jesus was going to go to his house. The man insisted that he wasn’t worthy of a visit. If Jesus would simply “say the word,” his servant would be healed.
This displayed the great faith that Jesus wants to grow in all believers.
Take Home Nugget
A person’s perfect faith allows her or him to thank God before ending the prayer, certain that the unseen answer is on its way!
God’s mercy, love, and care
Come by believing that He’s really there!
J.D. Griffith
A personal, private lesson experience with our staff
Written for http://www.biblestudyforkids.com/
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