David Diga Hernandez - Only Believe

The thought I am bringing to you right now is very simple: only believe. Just have faith and trust God. Now, I know you have heard this encouragement before, and perhaps you feel that receiving that encouragement doesn’t do much for your situation. Maybe you are facing a sickness in your body, or perhaps your family is devastated by some tragedy, and someone has told you to only believe, to trust God, to have faith. When you hear that, it’s possible that in your heart you’re thinking, «But you don’t know what I’m going through; you don’t know what I’m facing. This is more difficult than just being able to solve it by only believing. This is a more challenging situation than trust itself can resolve.» Perhaps you find yourself in that place right now. Maybe this season has been burdensome for you. Perhaps you are up against a wall, and you feel like giving up. Well, I read this scripture, and I’m going to share it with you right now. This scripture stirred something in me because it’s so powerful, and it’s so powerful because it’s simple. When it comes to spiritual matters, simplicity brings forth power. This is the verse that encouraged me: Mark chapter 5, verse 36. As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said unto the ruler of the synagogue, «Be not afraid; only believe.» Fear can pressure you to expect disaster; fear can make you anticipate the worst. But faith expects a miracle. You see, fear is faith in the devil’s ability. Faith is when you trust in the power of God. Fear is saying, «I trust that the enemy has the power to destroy me.» Fear is saying, «I trust that life can go awry; I trust that something bad might happen to me.» But faith says, «Something good is going to happen to me; something marvelous is going to occur in my life.» Faith says, «I may be looking at my situation now, and I may not know how I’m going to come out of it.» One, I don’t know; He makes a way where there seems to be no way. He takes an impossible situation and turns it to my benefit. Now, this is not necessarily what I would call the prosperity gospel, as some have come to preach. You know, Jesus did promise we would face persecution; we would have trials. But He also promised that He would be with us. He promised that we would overflow with joy and peace, that we would radiate with life, that we would beam with power, and that we would carry the authority of heaven on our shoulders. That authority, that power, that peace, and that joy remain with us even in those difficult places. But God does want to give you a miracle. God does want to bless you; God does want to bring you out of your situation. The scripture says in Mark chapter 9, beginning at verse 14: when they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe and ran to greet Him. «What is all this arguing about?» Jesus asked. Verse 17: one of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, «Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk, and whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.» Jesus said to them, «You faithless people, how long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.» Now, I want to stop here; you have to understand Jesus’s frustration. Here He is with the disciples, who had just witnessed Him transfigure on a mountaintop. They witnessed the glory of God; they saw Jesus transfigured. Here Jesus is, walking in this glorified state, connecting heaven with earth. Then He has to come back to this place where people lack faith in His power. There is His frustration: what is going on? Where is your faith? How long do I have to put up with you? Continuing now, the scripture says in verse 20: so they brought the boy, but when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion; he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. «How long has this been happening?» Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, «Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us if you can.» Verse 23: «What do you mean, if I can?» Jesus asked. «Anything is possible if a person believes.» The father instantly cried out, «I do believe! But help me overcome my unbelief.» When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, He rebuked the evil spirit. «Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,» He said, «I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again.» Then the spirit screamed, threw the boy into a violent convulsion, and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as the people said, «He’s dead.» But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Here we see that Jesus comes into a situation where man had attempted to cast out a demonic spirit from a boy. This boy was plagued by a demonic spirit that, from the scripture, threw him into these violent seizures; the demons…