“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
I would ask you to consider this verse with the following one,
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matt. 6:34)
How much assurance do you have within yourself that the plans you have for tomorrow will come to fruition, that by the end of tomorrow all that you had set before yourself to do will be accomplished? That your vehicle will start, or the bus will be on time, that your place of employment will still be there, that the shops you visit will still welcome you, that you will eat?
Most people would consider these daily excursions into tomorrow expected, taken for granted, because of the simple fact that they have always been so, besides of course the occasional inconveniences that arrive. You plan, but beyond the possibility of impending changes in the weather, very little change is expected or desired in the lives of many. The day is completed, and we once again begin to prepare for those seemingly endless tomorrows.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
It is those “what ifs” that some rarely give thought to and others live in nearly a constant fear of, yet rarely in consideration of their eternal soul, the temporal, the worldly is more than enough for the brute beasts my friends, desires and fears are their way of life, and they see few things that are “good” for them unless those things prove advantageous to them in some way.
If you wake up tomorrow and your vehicle has a flat tire or the transportation mode you employ is late, if you rise out of bed with a stabbing pain that was not there yesterday, if you need more examples, you can easily fill them in here yourself.
What if tomorrow you have faith, belief, but your unbelief is challenged? What if the Almighty says to your accuser, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. (Job 1:12)
But then the next tomorrow He says to him, “Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.” (Job 2:6)
Reading the Word of God, studying to show yourself approved, hiding His Word in your heart offers one of the means of the fulfillment of 2nd Peter 3:18. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” But there is no other way to help your unbelief than to put your faith to the test.
These tests of faith will reveal to you the truth of where you are in Christ, for your responses to them will be in one of two ways, either “Thy will be done, please Father, show me what it is that you want me to learn from this so that I can grow in your grace and mercy.”
Or it will be one of rebellion, unacceptance of His will, of not just questioning why, but of being unwilling to acknowledge that in some way this is for your good.
“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14)
Exercise of the body hurts, but you will grow in strength because of it, the exercising of our mind in relation to the Word of God, by contemplating His truths assists us by the mercies of the Lord through His Holy Spirit to further rest assured in His promises, but those tests of faith, of revealing to us where we still hold unbelief in our hearts, where there is still a doubt to His love, care and concern for us, are not just necessary, but required of you if you desire to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, if you desire to be made into the image of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
There isn’t another way my friends.
How you accept those unforeseen events of tomorrow will show you where your unbelief still resides, they will reveal to you where you need to trust yet.
