Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

Mark 9:22-24, "And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

This morning, many folks fall into unbelieving states to varying degrees. In fact, all of us do this from time to time in different ways. Many times people tell me, "If I was there, I wouldn't have doubted." Perhaps many of them are sincere in this belief, but I know that I would have doubted right along with the disciples and everyone else. When reading, I find myself quite frequently in the person of Peter. He was blessed above measure, and he still had to be dealt with by the Lord on numerous occasions for his unbelieving state. How many times in my life has the Lord blessed me to walk on water above the cares and tempestuous things of life? Then, how many times have I still looked upon them with fear and discouragement? We are in constant need of instruction and care by our Lord.

Here is a situation where a man brings his child to Jesus. The father beseeches Christ to cast the devil out of his son, but the Lord does not do it immediately. In times past, I used to wonder why the Lord waited before performing the miracle, but it seems that He straightened out the father before dealing with the child. The father is in a great state of unbelief by the language that he uses. Notice that he doubts whether the Lord is capable of doing this. He says, "If thou canst...” when he should have declared, "If thou wilt...” Our Lord is capable of doing more than we can ask or think. He is capable of doing things with or without our knowledge. He is capable of whatsoever He pleases.

Therefore, there is no reason to think that He would be incapable of casting out this devil. However, the Lord is not always willing to do what He is capable of. Our society has completely turned into the state of Missouri. They think that if you do not "Show me" then you have not the ability to do it. So, our Lord is always capable, but not having the desire to do a thing does not negate His power one iota. Many times, He does not do something for a time for a particular purpose. He waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing. Could He have spoken the ark into existence and immediately flooded the earth? Most certainly! But, His will was for Noah to build it, while He was longsuffering.

He waited 430 years before sending Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. He waited many thousands of years before sending His Son to redeem His people. He is currently waiting now before burning up the elements with a fervent heat. Does He have the power to do it now (I speak this foolishly)? His power is always present, but His will is to wait until the appointed time to do so. So, our Lord straightened out the unbelieving dad, and then cast the devil out of the child. May we ever be found acknowledging Him, not questioning His ability or word, and asking for our will to be aligned with His.

In Hope,

Bro Philip