Tired Heart Seeking

 

“O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.” Mark 9:19

When Jesus returned from the Mount of Transfiguration, he became exasperated with the people. He spoke with exaggeration and frustration. His words, “this generation,” referred to the people of that age. Jesus said that generation would never believe in him.

“How long must I be with you for you to have faith in me? No matter how much I prove myself or how long I stay with you, you will never believe. Lest the boy never experience freedom from his torment because you do not believe in me, bring him to me. I care about him because of his torment and because your faith will never be enough to lead to his healing.” This was the spoken and unspoken meaning of Jesus’ words.

The amazing thing in verse twenty is the contrast between the beings—human and spirit. In both Mark’s and Luke’s recording of this event, even before Jesus spoke, the demon thrashed the boy to the ground. The demon recognized Jesus as being the Son of God, who has authority and power to command and control him. The demon's belief about Jesus contrasts with the generation's lack of faith in Him.

In verse twenty-two, the boy’s father’s words to Jesus showed the lack of faith by that generation of people. He said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion for us and help us.” A desperate father grasping for the last straw, the least possibility in his mind, for his son to have freedom from the evil spirit. This man may have exhausted his funds to see every doctor, the priest, and spiritual medium. Another chance for his son’s healing walked into town. This father heard whispers of a man named Jesus. He sought those who could direct him to Jesus, but he found only his disciples. With a loud sigh and deflation of hope, the father may have despaired. Then Jesus walked up to the clamorous crowd. The father’s hope rose. His eyes opened wider, and he sought Jesus’ attention. This father said to Jesus, “If you can, help us...”

Jesus’ response? Incredulity. Spoken and unspoken, Jesus said and may have felt, “How long must I keep showing miracles for these people to believe and be in a right relationship with God? Forever will not be enough time. They have hardened their hearts against me as the Messiah. They must choose to open their hearts and choose to believe in me. Anything is possible to him who believes!”

The boy’s father heard Jesus’ incredulity and exasperation. His hope increased, and he wanted to trust in Jesus. Jesus was the father’s last hope. The man acknowledged his small faith, yet desired belief. He was desperate for his son to be freed from the demon. The father said, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.”

Jesus rebuked the demon and demanded it leave the boy and never re-enter him.

Jesus clarified to the disciples that only prayer can expel such entities.

Jewish scribes argued with the nine disciples who didn't go with Jesus to the mountain. Nothing written in the Bible states these nine disciples had been communing with God. Instead, they stayed in town and became distracted by argumentative people. The disciples focused on defending against the scribes, not on the source of healing and wholeness.

The father, desperate and grasping at his last hope, wanted to believe. His cry, “Help my unbelief,” was his crying out to God for faith, who gives faith to all who ask of him. This father was praying. He recognized Jesus as his only hope and begged God to give him faith.

Jesus said, “This kind can only come out by prayer” (Mark 9:29). The father’s recognition of his own lack of faith led to his desperate cry of wanting faith. God gave him faith to believe in Jesus. God gave faith to the father when he opened his heart to him.

That day, Jesus did more than cast out a demon and make a boy well. He provided faith and hope to a man who had given up hope. This father and son met and experienced Jesus, the divine Son of God and Messiah. The disciples grew in their knowledge of, understanding of, and faith in Jesus. Mark omitted the scribes’ and crowd's faith in his gospel account. In his view, the crowd merely watched and listened.

Today, we each are part of one of these three groups: a growing disciple of Jesus, a desperate seeker of hope and faith, or a hardened and combative person.

Will you choose to grow in discipleship with Jesus?

Will you cry out to God to give you faith to believe?

Will you harden your heart more against Jesus and the salvation he offers to you each day?

It’s your choice. God will never force you to accept him or His forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in his kingdom.

Reciprocating

”The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.“

Psalm 145:18 AMPC

 

Notice, the independent clause states a fact: God is near. He stays near His beloved creation, in this case, people. He is the initiator of this relationship.

 

The dependent clause shows a slightly different nearness. The Lord is near to anyone who calls upon Him truly, with their whole being. The initiator of this closer relationship is the person who earnestly sought God for himself or herself.

 

The first clause explains a bit of who God is—Creator, Protector, Provider. The second clause explains the growth of the person because of his or her understanding of who God is. The person recognizes and believes in God as Yahweh—I AM, the One who was, is, and forever will be. God does not change, but when the person truly seeks God, in that person’s heart, soul, body, and spirit, that person gives God a fuller/complete role in his or her life. That saved person accepts God for all He is.

 

When a person seeks God, God becomes more than Creator, Protector, Provider. In his or her mind, heart, body, and spirit, God becomes Lord, Yahweh, and Savior.

 

Is your relationship with God one sided where He is the only one to actively be in it? Or, is your relationship two-sided, where you acknowledge God’s presence and sovereignty and worship Him and He guides you in His ways for your benefit and His purposes of love—love for you and other people?

 

Have you initiated a relationship with God by believing in Jesus as your Savior?

That’s the first step of a lifelong reciprocal relationship with God.

 

One Thing I Have Asked

One thing I have asked from the Lord,

that I desire (seek) to serve Him,

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord (be in His presence) all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty and pleasantness of the Lord (seeing His glorious face) and

to contemplate on Him in His temple.

Psalms 27:4

 

Only a pure (righteous) person, made so by God, can look at the Lord. In the Old Testament, the Israelites understood when an unrighteous person looked at God, that person would die. Moses understood this. He learned it from God when God covered Moses’ face on the mountain so he would not see His face and die. 

David expressed his greatest desire was to seek to serve the Lord. He stated one desire then expounded on it. To serve the Lord, David wanted to be with God in His house—the temple. He wanted to be where he knew the presence of the Lord resided. Why? Because in the presence of the Lord is holiness, peace, understanding, and the fulfillment of our greatest desire—to be in a right relationship with God. 

While in the house of the Lord seeking to serve Him, David could get clarity of thought with one purpose, without being pulled in the many directions a king is asked to make decisions. He could focus on God without the world pulling on him. David could hear the voice of God’s directions without clamor. That brings peace and understanding. 

Being with God and gazing on His face brings stillness, quiet, and fulfillment of our most inborn desire, to be in relationship with the Lord and to see and to serve Him.  No fear of death. No fear from the world. Just peace, joint purpose, and reverence. That’s what David meant when he wrote he wanted one thing: to seek to serve the Lord by being in His temple, gazing on Him, and contemplating Him. 

How can we serve the Lord now? Do we truly want to be in God’s presence, or do we only want His approval for what we want to do or already do. We can only truly be in God’s holy presence by being made righteous by His Son Jesus. We can feel the pull towards God and go to a quiet place seeking Him—in the forest, by the sea, in a church—but until we believe in Jesus and, thereby, are made clean from sin (be made righteous), we cannot be in the presence of God. We cannot behold the beauty of His face. His Spirit pulls us towards God with the conviction to follow Him to quiet places. Until we heed that pull and recognize and submit to God’s calling us to be in a righteous relationship with Him by believing in Jesus, we cannot see His face, only be drawn to Him. 

Following the convictions placed on your heart, the pulling of the Holy Spirit on you, and submitting yourself to God by believing in Jesus to be saved, leads you to want more than God’s approval for what you do. It leads you to do what God wants done.

So, how can you serve the Lord now? Believe in Jesus and be saved. Seek God in His quiet places; seek His face. Seek to know and do His will. Dwelling in the house of the Lord daily is being with Him like this. Seeking and being with God. Revering Him. Listening for His will and commands. Praising Him for His direction and what He has done. Going from there but not from Him to show Him through your being to the people with whom you meet that day. 

Do you go into your day without having seen God’s face? I encourage you to be with Him first so people will experience God through you. Without that time, there’s a greater chance people will only experience you not God.