Fear and Doubt
When do we need our faith?
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:14-21
Jesus was angry with his disciples because they couldn't perform a simple task, like casting out a demon.
All right, maybe that is not so simple a task to us, but in Jesus' eyes, it was a basic test of one's faith.
He had given them authority over the demons, and they failed to execute that authority. Why?
Was it fear? What do I do when the demon comes out and comes after me?
Or was it doubt? Who do I think I am that I should be able to do this?
Fear and doubt are the major obstacles to growth. Once they set in, we fail to move, fail to act. We become stuck.
Look at the way we fight disease today.
It would be foolish to think we could cast out the demon of sickness by faith alone. Surely that cannot work. Doubt rules here.
Instead, we put our faith in medications and treatments that attempt to attack the bad and leave the good.
It doesn't always work that way, and we may get sicker.
Why are we so doubtful? Are we afraid to trust God?
We fall victim to the question, "What if it doesn't work?" What if my prayers are not answered? Or worse, what if the answer is, "No?"
Trusting in God is hard work, and it goes against our thinking which is rational and resonable.
But there is a way around our doubts and fears, and that is through others. When our prayers are weakened by doubt, the prayers of friends and family are strengthened by faith.
This is the good news Jesus wanted us to hear. You can help one another. You can be like the apostles and cast out the demons for someone who is suffering.
And that shouldn't take a lot of faith.
More to come...