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Living in Unbelief

by Jerry Ousley
1/22/2016 / Christian Living

I shook my head, did a double take then removed my glasses, rubbed my eyes out real good and took a second look. Yep; my sight had not deceived me and I wasn't dreaming because there he was right in front of me. When our oldest cat, Shaggy, was a kitten he was a very active cat. He'd run up a tree nearly as fast as he could run across the ground. When any of us were out in the yard he dearly loved being out as well. That cat would run across the yard like a yellow streak of lightening.

That particular day Deb and I were in the front yard by the house doing some weeding. Well, she was doing the weeding and I was standing there trying to help but probably getting in her way more than I was helping. The sun was bright in the sky but it wasn't an extremely hot day and the humidity (which is something Southern Indiana is infamous for) was very low a very pleasant day indeed.

That's when it happened. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes I would have doubted its possibility but then I did see it. Here came that cat tearing around the house, digging his claws into the ground as he went. You could nearly see grass and dirt flying up in the air behind him. He was headed right for the side of the house and I vaguely remember thinking, "If he doesn't stop or change his course that cat's in for one bad headache!" Our house is made of brick. The cat didn't slow down and he didn't change his course and to my utter amazement he went tearing right up the side of the house like he was climbing a tree! About three quarters of the way up he stopped dead in his tracks and if he wasn't thinking, "What am I doing up here," I was thinking it for him. I'd never seen a cat climb up the side of a brick house before and haven't seen it since.

I remind him of it from time to time because now that sleek, energetic cat much resembles his master; slow moving and a little overweight. About all the running he does now-a-days is if he hears me getting his food out. That generally sends him moving very quickly but other than that he lays around a lot. I wonder if in his kitty-mind he thinks about those days.

In Mark 9 we read the story of a man who had brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus. He had spent a small fortune by the standards of his day in effort to find a cure for his boy. It tore his heart out whenever his son would fly into a fit throwing himself about, sometimes into the fire as if he were trying to destroy himself. He had heard of Jesus and brought his son as a last ditch effort. Before we become judgmental of this father let's remember that often we have done the same thing leaving the Lord as the last resort I mean.

When he arrived Jesus wasn't there and so this father asked the disciples to help him. It hadn't been that long since they had returned from a mission where the Lord had sent them out by twos to preach the gospel heal the sick and cast out demons. They had returned awestruck at the power of God that had been displayed within them. So I believe they thought something like, "Sure; no need to bother the Master. We can take care of that." Only they couldn't. Try as hard as they would their efforts were useless and so the man felt disappointment one more time. He had been living in unbelief. Every other effort had been fruitless and now his low expectations had been proven to be correct. Perhaps he would just have to resolve that there was no cure for his son and it was just something that somehow they were going to have to learn to live with.

About then Jesus returned from the mountain, saw the commotion and immediately took control of the situation. He listened to the man's story and while they were yet talking the evil spirit threw the boy on the ground where he lay wallowing around and foaming at the mouth. Looking the man straight in the eye He said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." To which the man replied, "Lord, I believe " But there was something in the eyes of Jesus that demanded truth. Searching deep in his heart he knew that there was doubt present. He had heard the words so often that everything was going to be okay, but it never was. To him this seemed to be just another one of those let-down-occasions. But there was Jesus looking straight through him, directly into his heart as if He knew his very thoughts, so speaking the truth he finished, "help my unbelief!" There it was; it was out into the open. But this was exactly what our Lord was looking for. In an instant He spoke the word and the demon left. This father's son had been delivered.

Jesus Christ wants to do the same for us. But He also first of all wants the truth laid out on the table. He wants us to face our own unbelief. He wants us to stop thinking that this is impossible and we'll just have to learn to live with it. He wants our hearts laid open. And when we do, when we are willing to be exposed He will make a believer out of us.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey", "Ordeal", "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree." Newer books include "Finality" and "Dividing God's Church." Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge

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