“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24

This morning at men’s Bible study (we meet every Tuesday at 7:30), we talked about two back-to-back stories in the ninth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. First, The Transfiguration; then – immediately after Jesus and the three disciples come down – the incident where the father says, famously, “Lord, I believe! Please help me in my struggle with unbelief!”

As always, we had a productive and encouraging conversation. What I want to highlight in this space is the story I led with (key identifiers changed to protect confidentiality).

I have an English friend who heard that I was traveling to the UK for a funeral. She did not know the family of the deceased, but she hopped on a train anyway and made a trip of several hours to be there. Eventually we carved out some time to chat and what everything boiled down to was this simple statement: “Derek, I wish I had a faith like yours.”

“Thanks,” I said, “that was a really thoughtful thing to say.” I knew her story, her background, some of the challenges she had been facing and her fraught relationship to church. But what I said in reply was, I believe, an important word of truth in that moment and something that proved helpful for the discussion around the Mark 9 passage.

“But God doesn’t want you to have a faith like mine,” I said, “God wants you to have a faith like yours; God wants you to have your own faith.”

We talked about it, and I don’t remember exactly where things ended up, but the bottom line here is authenticity. The beauty of God as revealed in Jesus is the interactive journey, the willingness to dialogue, the understanding that we are all a work-in-progress, the fact that we are loved – and accepted and included – regardless.

Authenticity, yes, and then trust too. There is a point at which Jesus challenges us to take our faith where it is and then to trust him. Unbelief seldom morphs into belief absent trust.

Unbelief seldom morphs into belief absent trust…

In other words, when we say something like “help my unbelief” we do not then stand still. What we must do is to step into – or at least toward – belief by way of trust. It’s like showing up for the interview and doing very best rather than saying, “I wish I had that job.” It’s like purchasing a guitar and taking lessons and practicing every day as opposed to saying, “I wish I could play guitar.”

That is what’s involved in trusting and believing and saying “help me in my unbelief.” It is investing ourselves in the promises rather than waiting for one, randomly, to land.

Peace on us all. Peace like a river – DEREK