Mark 9:14-29 New Living Translation 14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. 15 When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. 16 “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked. 17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. 22 The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” 23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” 26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” 29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” As believers we are all called to be the kind of people that don't back down easily when we know what God has called us to. Those who choose to live their life like everyone else in this world want things instantly as if it was their right. Our constitution declares that we have certain unalienable rights given to us by our Creator, one of which is the pursuit of happiness. This does not mean we have the right to be happy but the right to pursue happiness. It seems that people in and out of the church have lost the sense of delayed gratification which means happiness that comes later.
In today's reading the people wanted this boy healed NOW and they blamed the disciples for not making it happen but Jesus quickly turned the tables on them and let them know that it wasn't the fault of the disciples but their faith. By definition faith is,"confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is a willingness to live in such a way that believes what we are promised will come in due time, His time not ours. Jesus cares more about our character than our comfort. How will you live today- discontent, angry or even disappointed that God has not acted on your time table or by faith in light of we hope for and cannot see? Let us pray that we may live according to way God sees the world and not the way we see it.
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