Can You Relate?

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as 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 17:19-20

Which person in the Bible do you relate to the most?

Perhaps you are a missionary who has traveled the world planting churches and enduring persecution and so relate to the apostle Paul. Maybe you relate to the great patriarch Abraham who, when told to leave his home and move to the place that God would show him later, immediately packed his bags and left, “not knowing where he was going,” (Hebrews 11:8). Or perhaps you identify most with Daniel who was carried away as a prisoner of war in his youth yet never forgot his God and was even willing to pray to God openly when it meant he would be thrown to the lions. Or Daniel’s friends who were not afraid to defy the king and be thrown into the fiery furnace. Maybe you can relate to the composite ideal wife of Proverbs 31 who, with the utmost efficiency, managed a household of servants, a business, and a family, complete with adoring husband and children.

No?

Maybe like Hannah you know the pain of infertility and have prayed in desperation for a child. Maybe like Noah you have been a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) for years and have converted no one but your own family. Perhaps you can relate to those in the Bible who endured chronic illness or disability, like the woman who had a flow of blood for 14 years and had spent all she had on doctors and cures, or the forty-year-old man who had been blind from birth. Maybe, like Elijah, there have been times you just wanted it all to be over.

Mark 9 tells about a father whose son was apparently demon-possessed. We might joke about how sometimes it seems like our kids are demon-possessed, but this man’s son, when seized by the spirit, would convulse, foam at the mouth, wallow on the ground, and often the spirit had “thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him,” (v.22). We’re not told how old the son was at this point, but all this had been happening since childhood. Perhaps you can relate to this father, desperate to see a child healed or restored.

What I relate to are the honest words of the man when challenged by Jesus to believe:

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

On the surface this statement appears to be a contradiction. But sometimes my life IS a contradiction, a messy knot of faith and doubt, hope and fear, obedience and sin.

The Bible is full of stories of great heroes of faith, ordinary people who did extraordinary things. These can be inspiring, but also intimidating.

There are also many stories of ordinary people doing ordinary things and having ordinary struggles that wouldn’t impress anyone. But! You know what? Jesus healed that man’s son. That man with the partial belief– he didn’t know Jesus; he had only heard about Him. But the Son of God was willing to work with that little mustard seed of faith.

Even the great apostle Peter, the one who preached the first gospel sermon; the one who made that great confession upon which Jesus built his church; even he took faltering steps at times. As far as I know, he and Jesus are the only two men ever to walk on water. Peter stepped out of that boat in complete faith. But what happened? He looked around at the storm and became afraid, started to sink. Jesus said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).

Can you relate? Perhaps you don’t know Jesus; you have only heard of him. Maybe you started out boldly but then became afraid.

Our steps of faith don’t always have to be huge, and they don’t always have to be successful. What the Lord said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, he might say to us as well: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” So when you stumble, fall, or start to sink, don’t be afraid. God can work with your little bit of faith. In fact, it’s kind of His specialty.

Dear God, sometimes my faith feels so small, especially in comparison to the great Bible heroes. Lord, I believe, but please help my unbelief. Take my doubt and, in Your greatness, turn it around for your glory. Help me each day to take small steps of faith. May they become a life of faith that can be pleasing to You. Help me, Lord! In Jesus’s name, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins