Our story for the day comes from Matthew 17:14-21. In this passage of Scripture the disciples find themselves in a bit of a pickle. They had been healing the sick and casting out demons, and were probably feeling pretty good about themselves. Life was going along pretty well, until all of the sudden they came up against a problem they couldn't handle.
A boy.
Not unlike others they had seen, and healed, this boy was afflicted by a demon. Try as they might, however, they could not cast the demon out. Imagine their consternation as everyone looked on as they tried, and failed, to do what they had done before, and no doubt promised they could do again.
Can you imagine the sweaty palms, nervous glances at each other, and clearing of throats as they tried and tried again?
"Come out of him!"
No response.
"I say again, 'Come out of him . . .' "
Nothing. No healing, no screaming demon launched into the "arid places," no applause, no thanks, no converting to faith in Jesus Christ.
Just silence, and failure.
An immovable mountainous problem.
They didn't have enough faith.
That's what Jesus told them when He arrived on the scene. He cast out the demon, and when His disciples asked why they couldn't do it, He replied, "Because you have so little faith."
Ouch!
Jesus' own disciples, the men who walked and talked and ate and laughed and cried with Him didn't have enough faith to do what He had enabled them to do. Was it because it was impossible? Not at all. In fact, this is the rest of what Jesus said to them:
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
If you just have faith.
I can't help but think that the disciples learned something that day, that their faith was made stronger because of the struggle they experienced. All they needed was faith, and Jesus told them they didn't have it in sufficient quantity. That would make you stop and examine your life for a minute, don't you think?
As the Bible works, this is not only the story of a group of guys who on one day failed to do what they should have been able to do.
This is the story of us.
Those mountains out there--those obstacles, those problems, those gigantic looming cliffs of terror that surround you--they're not insurmountable. They are not immovable.
You--yes you--can move whatever mountain stands in your way if only you have a little faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment