The ball is in your court

One day a man came to Jesus to receive healing for his son who was tormented with a demonic spirit. This man had already gone to Jesus’ disciples to get prayer, but there were no results. Let’s read the story found in Mark 9:17-23.

“Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not.’ He answered him and said, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.’ Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’”

When the disciples came to Jesus later to ask Him why they couldn’t get results, Jesus told them it was because of their unbelief. What Jesus was basically telling the man in Mark 9:23 was “It’s not a matter of what I can do, but it’s a matter if what you can believe.” Jesus was throwing the proverbial “ball” back into the man’s court. The man wanted all the responsibility to be on Jesus.

Many times, it’s the same way with us. We want God to solve all of our problems and answer all of our questions. Jesus seemed to be this man’s last resort. “If You can do anything!”

Have you found out yet that God just doesn’t work that way? If need was what moved God, then the place where He would be the busiest would be in suffering third would countries and all other desperate situations. The truth is need touches the heart of God, but faith moves God’s hand of provision into action! God moves where people are hungry for Him, and where people are believing and trusting Him to move. This man wasn’t believing, because Jesus had to give him a faith lesson. The disciples must have not believed, because Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith. God expects us to believe His words and promises He has made us and act like that word is true, regardless of the circumstances around us. That’s faith! Faith is accepting God’s word as truth and final authority, and allowing that word to govern your actions.

Many are crying out to God today in desperate situations, and nothing is happening, just like this man. Is it because God can’t solve the problem? No! He can do anything.

Is it because God doesn’t want to do anything? Absolutely not, He is a God of love and compassion, and the scripture says He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Then if God can do it, why doesn’t He do something? God would answer that question today, just like He did over 2000 years ago. “If I can? If you can believe, all things are possible!”

It’s our responsibility to know what God has said about our situation, and believe it. Do you know what God has said about the situation you want Him to intervene in? If not, then you don’t have faith. Faith doesn’t even begin in your heart until you have heard from God.

Romans 10:17 says “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” There is no such thing as blind faith. Faith is believing something that God has said and revealed. The Bible reveals to us what God has said. Ignorance of what God has said is what is destroying people all over the world. He has spoken to us in the Word of God. Hebrews 1:2 says that He has spoken to us in His Son.

Don’t be ignorant of what God has said. Find out by searching the scriptures and getting your hands on material that will help you to know what God has said to you about situations in your life. The Word of God is God speaking to you! God is saying to you today the same thing He said to the man in Mark 9. What He can do for you is a matter of what you can believe, and not according to His ability. If you can believe it, all things are possible.

The ball is in your court!

Dayne Massey is pastor of Gracepointe Church, 665 Ga. Hwy. 74 South in Peachtree City. Gracepointe is a non-denominational church with a vision to equip people to fulfill the destiny God has for them. The church’s website is www.gracepointechurch.com. For more information, call 770-631-9880 or email pastor@gracepointechurch.com.