Daily resistance

July 21, 2006

By Dan Turpin

Every step toward Christ kills doubt. Every thought, word, and deed for Him carries you away from discouragement.

— Theodore L. Cuyler

Faith is not the total absence of unbelief; it is the daily resistance of the doubt that hinders us from receiving God’s best.

A certain man brought his demon-possessed son to Christ’s disciples so they could cast a demon out of him. Previously they had been successful in casting out demons and healing the sick, but this time they failed.

Jesus came upon the scene, took control of the situation, and said to the boy’s father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23, NKJV). In tears the man cried in the next verse, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and the young man was instantly delivered.

Like this father, we have a battle going on in our lives between faith and doubt. It is a good fight, and one that we can win. Faith is like muscles that grow strong through exercise.

George McDonald writes, “A man or woman may be haunted with doubts, and grow in faith. Doubts are … messengers of God … to the honest. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet. Doubt must precede every deeper assurance; for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region previously unknown, unexplored and unannexed.”

Jesus wanted to give His disciples boundless blessing, but He had to wait until they were ready to receive. In John 16:12 Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

Let your faith grow as you consider these scriptural promises:

• Personal intimacy with God causes our faith to increase (John 15:4,7).

• The Lord did not promise to deliver us from ever experiencing trouble, but He has promised to deliver us out of trouble. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us from them all (Psalms 34:19).

• You are never alone in your walk with Christ because the eyes of the Lord are in every place and God is with you (Proverbs 15:3).

The Lord will give you the power to conquer every obstacle you face. Approach Him and be honest, like the man with the demonized son. In essence, he was really saying to Christ, “Lord, I believe; now help me to believe more.”

As Os Guinness has said, too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.

Dan Turpin is senior pastor of West Coast Church (AG) in Englewood, Fla.