Question: In Mark 9:24, a man tells our Lord Jesus that he believes but asks him to help him with his unbelief. This scripture was in my mind all night, and I was wondering if maybe you could help me to understand it a little better? | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff
Question: In Mark:9:24, a man tells our Lord Jesus that he believes but asks him to help him with his unbelief. This scripture was in my mind all night, and I was wondering if maybe you could help me to understand it a little better?
Response: Mark:9:24 is a precious verse for us. It reads, "straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
Simply put, even as born-again believers we have doubts. As for the father of this child, he may have intellectually believed that the Lord was absolutely capable of healing, but as a human, he knew very well his own capacity to doubt. In Mark:9:23, Jesus had specifically stated, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (our emphasis). It was his own capacity for belief that gave reason for his cry, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
When it comes to our need for healing, as believers we long for the time when the Lord "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil:3:21). "And...ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom:8:23).
In the meantime, we must cast ourselves entirely upon the Lord for our deliverance, remembering that when we acknowledge, as this father did, that our faith is weak, He is strong, no matter what the issue, affliction, need, or fear may be. The Bible tells us that our Savior is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb:4:15). And whether or not He chooses to heal the illness or solve the problem or deliver us from the issue, even still we can take comfort knowing that He will never fail nor forsake us (Dt 31:6; Josh:1:5), and that He will strengthen and sustain us until the very end (Ps:55:22).