One day a distraught father came to Jesus and said, ‘My son…frequently…he falls into the fire and…the water…I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to cure him’ (Matthew 17:15-16 AMPC). Notice that he dumped the responsibility onto the disciples, who were still in training themselves, and then tried to put the blame on them when he didn’t get the outcome he wanted. He was understandably very upset and emotional, but perhaps he could have handled the situation with a little more grace. Whenever we’re in trouble, we often try to make excuses to justify ourselves. We might try to blame our pastor or the church for not equipping us properly to deal with it. We might blame friends, our boss, our family, our looks, social media, or find some other excuse. We’re unable or unwilling to admit that we stuck our own hand in the fire or almost drowned by jumping in headfirst when we couldn’t swim. After Jesus healed the boy, His disciples asked Him, ‘Why can’t we do the things you do?’ (see Matthew 17:19). That’s like asking, ‘Why isn’t my situation changing?’ when we haven’t brought the problem to God, prayed about it, and trusted in His transformative power. Jesus replied, ‘Because your faith is too small’ (Matthew 17:20 NCV). Sometimes you need the kind of faith that makes you seem a little weird; the kind that doesn’t need other people’s approval and doesn’t care whether or not you fit in. That’s the kind of faith that made Noah say, ‘Even though there has never been rain and nobody in my generation believes, I’m still going to do what God said.’ As a result, he came out on top! Paul writes, ‘Having done all…stand’ (Ephesians 6:13 NKJV). Stand on what God has told you in His Word, because ultimately, it’s the thing that will work.
