Devotional: Because of Unbelief

Because of Unbelief

Of all the things that could stop a move of God in your life, unbelief must be at the top of the list. If faith is a form of belief, trust, confidence, or reliance upon someone or something, then UNbelief is a lack of trust, a lack of confidence, a lack of reliance, and in short, one who is skeptical.

On more than one occasion, Jesus encountered this type of unbelief. "Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, 'Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judah? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?' So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.' Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:53-58).

How many times has God sent us what we needed in a package we didn't want? Mark's account of this same instance says, "Now He could do no mighty works there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled at their unbelief; so He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching" (Mark 6:5-6). The people needed what Jesus offered, but they couldn't get past the natural. I wonder if the "few sick people" were also blind and that's why He could heal them? If so, that's a shame.

There are three things that feed unbelief: familiarity, offense, and lack of honor. The people asked, "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary...?" They knew Jesus according to the flesh and therefore were unable to receive from Him according to the Spirit. Paul was wise to this flaw in human nature. In his letter to the Thessalonians, he said, "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13). He commended them for looking past the natural and receiving God's Word from their lips as if God Himself had stood in their midst and spoke it. And notice he said this kind of receptivity causes the Word to "effectively work in you who believe." That's the results I'm seeking.

The problem is people have become too familiar with their pastors and leaders. They have held hidden offenses in their heart over things as simple as the color of carpeting in the new sanctuary. Or they have lightly esteemed (given no honor) to the office of pastor; many just referring to him by his first name. When I ask "John Doe" a question, I will receive an answer from the man. But when I call upon the office of anointing by asking "Pastor John Doe" a question, I will receive an answer from the mantel placed on the man by God.

My husband is a Senior Pastor. I know him in the flesh, but when it comes to things of ministry I refer to him as Pastor. Why? Because I want/need the power of God operating in my life. I don't want God to be hindered because of familiarity, offense, lack of honor, or unbelief. Paul said, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Fortunately, there are two solutions to this form of unbelief. The first is teaching. Ignorance is always the devil's playground. God says His people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6); and Paul said, "Lest Satan should take advantage of us, we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). The children of God perish because the devil takes advantage of their lack of knowledge. Jesus knew this. It is the reason "He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching" after He marveled at their unbelief. "So then faith [the opposite of unbelief] comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

Another solution for unbelief is found in Matthew 17. "And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.' Then Jesus answered and said, 'O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.' And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' so Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief, for assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting'" (Matthew 17:14-21).

The disciples sincerely asked Jesus why they were unable to deliver this young boy from his torments. Jesus replied, "Because of your unbelief..." And then Jesus said something remarkable: "However this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Many have misunderstood Jesus to have meant this kind of demon, but that's not the case. Jesus gave us "...authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy..." (Luke 10:19). What Jesus was referring to was: "this kind [of unbelief]." Besides teaching, sometimes we simply need to neglect the indulgences of the flesh and seek God's face. When we do, God will reveal the truth to us and empower us to conquer even a spirit of unbelief.

So be careful of familiarity, offense, and dishonor, all of which feed our unbelief. We're all tempted in this manner. But "whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith [our trust and confidence that spring forth from our belief in God]" (1 John 5:4, Amplified).