“Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24

 

Antonio Monda has asked a lot of people this question: “Do you believe in God?” Monda asked everyone from strangers on the street to politicians and celebrities, about their belief or unbelief, saying, “I think it’s the most important subject of…all times.”[1] But for many, questions about faith bring up doubts. It’s commonly thought that the opposite of faith is doubt, in the same way that many believe that the opposite of courage is fear. But we learn to be brave while feeling afraid. In the same way, we explore, strengthen, and grow in faith while wrestling with doubts. We start the faith journey holding questions and maybe even accusations against God. Then God does His work in our lives.

 

In the Bible, a man with a very sick son asked Jesus to heal his child. The exhausted father says to Jesus, “If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:14-29). That word, “if” reveals this man’s skepticism. He’s been disappointed by others before. This is his current reality–the place he’s meeting Jesus, doubts in hand.

 

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

 

We all have doubts, disappointments, and fears. Jesus said that faith starts as small as the tiniest seed. “But it grows into the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree” (Matthew 13:32). That growth happens on the journey as we navigate the reality of our doubts against the far greater reality of God’s goodness and faithfulness.

 

[1] Steinfels, Peter. “Q. Do You Believe in God? A. Yes, No and Well . . .” The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/us/10beliefs.html.