Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Psalm 33 • Exodus 2:23-3:15 • 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 • Mark 9:14-29

"I believe; help my unbelief!"

Mark 9:14-29

The life of faith is one of yes and no (or maybe . . . ); of advance and retreat; of yearning and suspicion. The Word has been spoken: I am with you always. Do not be afraid. Come unto Me. We want to believe that it is really that simple, but nothing in the world as we know it is that simple. People have agendas, sometimes evident, sometimes hidden. We ourselves have agendas, some noble, some not.

If I say, “I believe,” I reach out for God. I perceive that there is something bigger beyond myself, with which I desire connection. And then comes the unbelief —“Silly fool, those myths are for the uneducated, the masses who need an anesthetic, who need to hold on to hope against hope.” I’m not one of them.

What is happening in this passage is Jesus’ demonstration of the simple fact that we can choose to participate in God’s healing work, no matter how imperfectly.

Jesus never called on people to believe ideas or creeds, only to believe in Him, and thereby to bring God’s realm of wholeness, known as Shalom, into being.

Do we have to wait until we’ve got all the theology worked out, all the questions answered? I don’t think so. In the words of Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., “Over the years I have learned that ‘cleaning up one’s act’ may be far less important than consecrating one’s life. It may be possible (for God) to use everything.”

It’s only a couple of weeks until Easter. Consecrate your life to God, and the belief will come.

— Ann Willms