Look first

Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ (Mark 9:23-24)

Look first

Do not believe in your own faith, nor in the power of prayer. This leads only to despair, for we know our weakness and vacillation.

One hour our faith is firm and secure, only to dissolve when anxious uncertainties burst our bubble and drain our hearts hollow, leaving us empty of the resolve we thought unshakable moments before.

So we must not trust ourselves or in the strength of our belief. As long as we are looking at ourselves our joy and strength is in peril. And the more attention we pay to the weakness or strength of our faith … the worse off we are.

We are looking the wrong way, at the wrong person.

Turn from yourself and see Jesus. Look at the One who can do all things, whose divine love and will never wavers. Never.

Look at him and trust the Love who abides and speaks in him. This Love is the power of Life itself, eternal life being poured through him into the world … and into our lives each time we turn from any imagined strength of ours to see him.

His face, his love, his presence stills our anxiety and dispels thoughts and worries about whether we are weak or strong in faith. It doesn’t matter if we are weak. He isn’t.

“Help my unbelief” is not a good prayer. It is looking in the wrong direction. In every moment, kind or hard, look first at him. You’ll see everything you need.

Pr. David L. Miller