I believe Lord, help my unbelief 

The father of a possessed boy had enough faith to bring his son to Jesus for deliverance, but admittedly lacked the faith to see it done. In my opinion, his reply to Jesus’ “if you believe” invitation was honest and productive.  “If I have faith, anything is possible?  Yes I have faith and no I don’t, so please help me too.”

Jesus must have liked the answer for the man’s son was soon well.  A crowd of people witnessed the miracle. They also saw countless other miracles done publicly during his ministry.

So why would people, after seeing the most amazing evidence that Jesus was who he said he was, turn on him in the end?  To answer that question for myself, I look in the mirror and see a person who also demonstrates such unbelief and waivering from time to time.

One day I experience astounding evidence that God is near and He is in control and I believe.  Another day, I see no evidence and I waiver.  On those days, I read my journals to refresh my memory of what He has done previously.  It helps. A lot. 

These entries remind me that He is always ahead of the game and always goes before me marking the path for me to follow.  They remind me that even though I let worry creep into my heart, He does not stop guiding and protecting. His love is not conditional.

But humans, especially crowds of humans, can be fickle. Our love and devotion too often need “baby keys rattled in front of our faces” as an evangelist once said. When God is doing what we want, we are singing Hosannah in the highest, and when He isn’t we are cursing Him.

In his epistle, James said the tongue is an untamed thing.  It is one of the smallest members of our body, but the most powerful.  It is like a rudder on a ship, steering it wherever it will. Whatever the tongue says, often the head and heart follow suit. 

When I doubt and waiver, the last thing I need to do is verbalize it.  My tongue will only make things worse, and if it is left unchecked I would eventually turn on my Lord as well. Instead, I follow the example set by the father of the possessed boy and honestly say,  

“Yes Lord I believe, but please help my unbelief.”