First Step

"Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.' " Mark 9 :23-24....."Helplessness, not holiness is the first step towards intimacy with God." Timothy Keller

A father has come to Jesus in helpless desperation. His son, possessed by an evil spirit, had been suffering since he was a toddler at the hands of this spirit, falling into both fires and water. He pleaded with Jesus to "help him, if you can." Jesus answers with the the exhortation, that anything is possible to the one who believes. The father responds as so many, if not all of us would. He tells Jesus that He does believe Him, but to please minister to that part of himself that wavers, that lacks trust, and yes, that doubts in the ability of God to do the impossible.

This is where the quote from Timothy Keller should pierce each of our hearts. Jesus understands our helplessness, our desperation, and our devastation in the face of crushing impossibilities. As His Word says, He knows that "we're but dust." Because of this, He doesn't require that we come to Him in full and cool confidence in all things. He doesn't require that we get ourselves in the best possible shape, spiritually and emotionally, before we come before Him. He simply asks that we come to Him as we are. In our weakness, our helplessness, our desperation, and yes in and with our doubts. He asks that we come with all of these, empty of hope and trust in ourselves. This is how the father came to Jesus. Likely he had been seeking help for his son for years, including with the Jewish religious leaders. No one could help. He had heard of the ministry of Christ, of His working of miracles, and of His claim to the Messiah. He was in that place where, against all hope, he would believe...as much as he could in the weakness he was experiencing. He believed, yet he also doubted. How many times have we been in that same place? How many times have we come before Him, clinging to our hope in Him, yet overwhelmed with our fear, and with the whisper of the devil in our minds, that this Jesus could not, would not help us. Jesus knew that all of this was in the heart of the father, but He didn't turn Him away. Neither will He turn away you and me.

Our lives can be in such a mess, whether of our own or another's making. We can feel as if our trust in Him hangs by a thread. Still, He bids us come. He doesn't tell us to first clean up, straighten up, and pump up our faith. He just invites us to come, with all the mess, with all our doubts, and with our thread of faith, to Him. Not to just what He can do, but to Him. To who He is. To know that this Jesus we struggle sometimes, oftentimes to believe, calls us to enter into an intimacy with Him that will put to flight our fears, doubts, and unbelief.

Where in your life are you standing with that father? Where do your doubts, fears, and unbelief reside in your heart and mind? I don't guarantee that what you wish for Him to do will be done for you. I do tell you that when you come with all of yourself, nothing held back, you will receive all of Him that you are able to receive. It is not your supposed strength that draws Him to you, but your helplessness. As Keller says, it is the first step to intimacy. Have you taken it? Will you take it now?

Blessings,

Pastor O