I Believe--Help My Unbelief

Belief and faith are closely connected, while unbelief is the absence of faith.  I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, but do I have the same faith that the journey I’m on will lead me to heaven?  Like the man in Scripture who cried out to Jesus, “I believe—help my unbelief.”

This is where the word hope enters the story.  Jesus is our Hope and our Salvation.

In God’s miraculous and long-range plan to restore fallen humanity back to Himself, He gave His only Son to die for our sins.  This is the redemption plan at work.

We understand what the human gene pool carries—traits, mannerisms, health factors, and physical characteristics passed down from parents to children.  In a similar way, every person born into this world carries the nature of Adam, the inclination toward sin.

This goes back to the fall of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God’s command in the Garden of Eden.  Though we may wish it had never happened, the reality is that this fallen nature has been passed down from generation to generation—from the beginning of time until now, reaching you and me.

Because of this, our only hope of restoring a Father-son or Father-daughter relationship with our Creator is through Jesus Christ—there is no other way.

God’s plan truly is miraculous.  I stand in amazement at how He preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls, helping confirm the reliability of His inspired Word—the map we know as the Bible.  These writings give direction to wandering souls who are lost without a Savior.

When we read God’s Word, it speaks deeply to the hungry soul within us.  It reveals the path we must travel to make heaven our home.

Do we lack faith?  Scripture tells us that faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).  The more we read the Bible, the more our faith grows.

Yet we should not fear, because God has placed within every human heart enough faith to reach out to Him in prayer and receive His free gift of grace.  Through this grace we are saved and set free from the curse of sin that affects all humanity.

Through Jesus, God extends mercy even while we were still sinners.  He loved us in our unlovable state before we ever loved Him.  As John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”

When the new birth takes place—being “born again”—the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us.  He begins to lead and guide us into all truth.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  When we ask God to forgive our sins, we step into a new life with Him.  It is the beginning of a glorious journey of faith as we walk with Jesus on the path of righteousness.

At that moment, the miracle of the new birth has occurred.  The person becomes a new creation because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross for their sins.

Our belief—our faith—continues to grow as we journey in hope.  The more we read God’s Word, the more it helps our unbelief.  Doubt fades in the presence of God as we ingest His Word.  It comes alive within us, and the Holy Spirit fills our hungry minds with truth.

Written by, 

Papa Boyd