We Can’t ‘Do It’ without God

As we get closer and closer to Pascha, the Church recalls the story of the man who brought his son to Jesus to be healed because nobody else could help him. Even the disciples could not help him. He had nowhere else to go so he came to Jesus, “Teacher, I brought you my son who has a mute spirit.” (Mark 9.17) The father explained everything, how the demon would torture his son, how his son would so often come very close to death, and even how the disciples could not cast out the demon.

In this miracle story, Jesus chastises the entire crowd who had been watching. “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” (Mark 9.19) Jesus healed the boy, but not after making an example of the father’s faith. “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9.23) The father believed, and after asking Christ to help him believe even more, his son was healed.

In life we will encounter many examples of which we cannot figure out a solution. We will all find ourselves wondering if our faith is strong enough to trust that God has the solution. We will enter into the Church and fall down on our knees and beg God for help. It may even be after we face trials so difficult we find ourselves near death. The truth is, we are at that moment everyday, but we just don’t realize it.

If you consider the description of how the demon tortures the son, are we not tortured that way spiritually everyday? Don’t we find ourselves drowning in our struggles, speechless in the face of trials, rigid with fear and left for dead by the society around us? We may not feel it all the time, but when we look back on our life, we each have had this experience more than once. We may even remember asking God, “Why couldn’t we do anything about it?” like the disciples asked.

We only have two weeks remaining in our Great Lenten Journey before we find ourselves in Holy Week. I invite you to open your hearts to Christ’s words in today’s Gospel, “O faithless generation,” and answer God with the same words of the father, “I believe, help my unbelief!” The world is fighting against us. The demons attack us everyday, even if we don’t realize it. We are being tossed into the fire of life, and the only help is from God.

Don’t wait until you have exhausted every other option in your life. Come to God now, and be able to move beyond your struggles against the demons before being left for dead. Admit your weaknesses in faith, and ask God to strengthen your faith. He has the solution, and we can’t do it without Him.