When I completed my secondary education, like every other young secondary school leaver, I looked forward to gaining admission into the university. I had high hopes in spite of the fact that things did not look so bright financially with my parents.
When my GCE results were released, even though it was not a bad result, it was not good enough to secure admission for the course I wanted to study. This meant that I had to re-write these papers,
I was already a Christian then, so I knew how to pray. The first time I sat for the exams, I passed in all but the paper I needed. I was devastated. I however encouraged myself and began to prepare for the next exam. The same scenario played out and I began to move closer to depression. After the third time, I stopped altogether and began to look for an alternative.
Some of you might say, “Well, maybe he did not understand the subject well enough to pass the exams” I thought that was my problem too, until when I began teaching others that subject and they passed while I did not. I knew something was wrong. I knew I had a spiritual battle in my hands and I began to pray and fast but above all I began to lean and trust in God to help me.
The last time I wrote the exam, I had a confidence I never felt before even before I got to the examination hall. I had a knowing inside of me that the battle had been won. I took my seat, prayed and opened the question papers. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The questions were so easy; I could solve them with my eyes closed! I finished the 2-hour paper in a little over and hour and I knew at that moment that I had passed. A couple of weeks later, when the results were released, I was not too surprised to discover that I didn’t just pass, I passed well.
In Matthew 9:14-27, Jesus found his disciples in a worrisome situation. A man had brought his child who had been demon possessed, manifesting in epileptic seizures that had threatened to destroy the child. They had done all they could, but the situation remained the same.
Jesus knew where the problem lay. It was not that the evil spirit was so powerful; it was the inability of the parties in question to believe. In verse 22b, the father of the child says, “…… But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us. “
I believe this is the problem many of us have today. We are at the crossroads of “if”. Yes, we pray, but as we do, we are also thinking of a plan B. We begin to play “what if” scenarios in our minds. We think of what we could do, in case God does not answer our prayers. Note Jesus’ response to the man’s request, “And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes! (Mark 9:23 Amplified Bible.)
Jesus response was a slight rebuke of the man’s inability to believe that Christ could turn his situation around. He told him then and He is telling us today, “All things are possible to him who believes!”
What does it mean to believe? I checked the Webster’s dictionary and got the following definitions, “To credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of something upon the declaration of another, When we believe upon the authority of another, we always put confidence in his veracity.”
Where is your confidence? Is it in yourself? Is it in other people you hold in high esteem? All these options will fail but Jesus assures us; “All things are possible to him who believes!”
Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org . British by birth, He currently resides in Lagos, Nigeria with wife Maris and their children, Praise, Stephanie and Precious. He works in the IT department of bank. Formerly an active singer, he still sings occasionally and speaks at invited forums. He presently serves as the Head of Books/Library in his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org