Smith Wigglesworth would get the congregations he was preaching at to sing over and over two simple words “only believe” . Only believe! Jesus once opened His mouth and deliberately and carefully said: “all things are possible, if we believe”. That’s not a whimsical statement, Jesus is not whimsical. It’s truth. It’s real, deep, life-changing truth. When we believe in God, and how big He is, and what He can do, and what He is capable of, then we can in every single promise in the Bible. It really is that simple.
When Jesus said that, a man had just challenged him. A man with a demonized son. The boy was on the ground convulsing, nine apostles had tried to cast the demon out but he was still as sick. Jesus turned not to them or the boy, but to the father. The father told him the boy’s predicament ending his outline with “if you can do anything, Jesus, have some mercy on my boy and heal him”.
You see that sounds like a logical and powerful statement, what the father said, and I have heard people pray like that to God, praying things like “if you can help, please show some kindness, Lord, have mercy and heal my auntie, my mum, my son, my cousin, my friend”. It all sounds very spiritual, but it actually comes from a place of unbelief.
To ask God “if you can” is unbelief in how big God’s power is. To ask God to have compassion and mercy on you is unbelief in how big God’s love is. The father in this situation is making the same mistake many of us have made in the past, we think Jesus is looking at our mess, our pain, our sickness, our poverty, our shame, our impotence, and is standing aloof trying to decide whether to help or not. That is not the case. The father wasn’t sure Jesus could heal His son, and very unsure whether Jesus would. That’s the definition of unbelief. The father needed to be in a Smith Wigglesworth meeting and sing over and over “Only believe!”
That father, just like us, was waiting for Jesus to make a move. That’s not it. Jesus is waiting for you to believe the Word. Jesus is waiting for you to believe how big He is. Jesus is waiting for you to believe how big His love for you is. Jesus is waiting for you to make a move to believe HIS WORD!
It’s not CAN GOD. God CAN! It’s can you believe! Because if you can believe, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. All things in the Greek means all things. Everything is possible when you realize how big God is.
Jesus was telling this father, and you need to hear Him right now – I am capable, I am willing. My power is big enough, my love is big enough. But my big enough needs your faith that I am big enough to bring my big enough into your situation. Only believe! Only believe!
I know people who have gone to healing meetings that I have run not out of faith, not out of a revelation of how big God is, but out of sheer desperation – it can’t hurt to go, and I hope somehow something happens. They would like to believe in healing, but don’t. They are unbelieving believers!
But then a non-Christian comes along to the same meeting, and doesn’t ever plan on living for God, but somehow due to their lack of religion, when they hear the Word preached with power, they believe that God can heal them and because they only believe they receive their healing. All it takes is believing how big God is. These people were not believing in their works, they had none, they just believed God was big and good and loved them and would heal them. Others wanted to be healed as much, even more, but did not believe. They doubted if God could and if God would.
And most people, especially Christians, struggle with the would. Most churches have taught clearly that God can do anything, but they have not taught clearly that God is love and wants everyone well and everyone wealthy. People limit God through their unbelief, they limit God because of their lack of realization of how loving God is. They do not “only believe!”
Today, make a decision to believe God is good and God loves you and God can and God will. God is willing, now you have to believing. Believe! Only believe! AMEN!
Tree of Life Blog 