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Unbelief - Part 2 - The Dangers of Unbelief
By: J.D. Heiney
For the past few months, the Lord has placed a tremendous burden in my spirit regarding unbelief in the church. I just can't seem to get away from it. When I look in the scriptures, it jumps out at me. When I hear sermons, it jumps out at me. When I pray, it jumps out at me. This issue has simply consumed me and I believe that it is for a very strategic purpose.
As I waited on the Lord in a service recently, the Lord dropped 3 quick phrases into my spirit in an instant. I quickly grabbed my pen and paper and wrote them down. I feel in my spirit that this is a year where the church MUST overcome it's unbelief. We simply cannot get by with the "business as usual" mentality in our churches and lives anymore. We need (me included) a breakthrough in our faith. The Lord spoke very specifically to my heart about His disgust towards unbelief. In the scriptures it is very clear how Jesus felt about unbelief. In part 1 of this series on unbelief, I mentioned these verses and talked about the Lord's response to His encounters with unbelief during His earthly ministry in the Gospels. Now, in this second part, I want to share the 3 phrases the Lord gave me. Let's call this teaching, "The Dangers of Unbelief".
1. Unbelief Will Abort Destiny
In Mark 5:35-43, Jesus is on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter when He is unexpectedly side-tracked. Apparently, a woman with a degenerating condition in her blood, desperately pushed her way through the crowd and by faith received an incredible miracle. This in itself is an incredible teaching on faith which I wish I had time to develop. But to save time for you and me both, I will focus on only one part of this story. As Jesus took time to bless and minister to this woman on a personal level, a little girl was dying. Of course, to Jesus everything was fine and He was right on schedule, but in the natural, I’m sure that those in Jairus’ party were furious. Put yourself in his shoes. You’ve ran to find Jesus because your daughter is dying. You are finally able to track Him down and He has agreed to bypass all of the other needs of the thousands of people pressing around Him, in order to go to your house and heal your daughter. WOW, don’t you feel special? So, you start off towards your house, hurrying Jesus along because you know that your daughter is only minutes away from death. You franticly rush Jesus and the disciples trying to go as fast as you can, when all of the sudden Jesus stops and says, “Someone touched me, who was it?” There are thousands of people around you and Jesus is trying to find the one that “touched him”. I think I know how I would respond, “Come on Lord, it was nothing.” So, as your daughter is dying, you feel the responsibility of her life on your hands. You must get Jesus to your house and quick. But Jesus is talking to some woman! Come on Lord, can’t that wait. I got a real need here. Of course, our needs always seem greater than everyone else’s needs. This is the scenario. I’m sure Jairus’ patience was wearing thin. Then it gets even worse, some people from your house come and tell you to forget bothering Jesus, your daughter is already dead. This is what I like to call the cross-roads of destiny. All of us will have moments in our lives when we come to the cross-roads of destiny. Jairus’ faith was being put to the test. The moment he received the news of his daughters death, unbelief immediately tried to abort his destiny. His destiny was to receive a wonderful miracle from the Lord. His destiny was to witness the miracle power of God in his own home and in his own life. The choice was his; believe or not believe. Faith or Unbelief. Jesus, quickly tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jairus was given a choice. Does he rise up in faith and believe the Lord and see his destiny fulfilled, or does he waver in unbelief and miss out on the wonderful miracle the Lord wanted to do in his life? You see, unbelief will abort destiny.
So, Jesus continues on to Jairus’ house. He only allows His closest disciples to accompany Him on this trip. When he arrives he finds the house full of people crying and wailing, mourning over the girls death. Isn’t it just like Jesus to make this comment here, “Oh, she’s not dead, she’s just sleeping.” Of course, the whole house about laughed Him right out of there and I’m sure some were offended as well. But the Word tells us that Jesus: “Put them all out.” Now, notice that Jesus only allowed His closest disciples to be with Him here, and then He kicks everyone out of the house except the father, mother and His disciples. There is a lesson to be learned here. If we want to walk in faith, we need to surround ourselves with people that will encourage us in our faith. We need to fellowship with those that feed our spirits and ignite our faith so that when we get out in the battle zone, our faith will be ready to meet any need or challenge and our closest friends can be there to help us, support us, and lift us up.
The story ends with Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter and she recovers completely. I was drawn to this story because it illustrates so perfectly, the decision between a life of faith or a life of unbelief. God is calling us in this season, in 2004, to let go of unbelief and to invite the Spirit of faith into our churches and into our lives. We need to walk in the faith of God. When life comes and says there is no more need to bother the Lord, what's done is done; just get over it. We need to remember Jesus’ words, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Unbelief will abort destiny, but faith will usher you right into it. Hebrews 11:8-12 says,
"Abraham trusted God, and when God told him to leave home and go far away to another land which he promised to give him, Abraham obeyed. Away he went, not even knowing where he was going. And even when he reached God's promised land, he lived in tents like a mere visitor, as did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently waiting for God to bring him to that strong heavenly city whose designer and builder is God. Sarah, too, had faith, and because of this she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, for she realized that God, who gave her his promise, would certainly do what he said. And so a whole nation came from Abraham, who was too old to have even one child--a nation with so many millions of people that, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the ocean shores, there is no way to count them." (LVB)
We see that Abraham's faith, was what ushered him into his destiny. Israel had a destiny but because they didn't walk in faith, the wandered in the desert for 40 years and an entire generation missed their destiny. UNBELIEF WILL ABORT DESTINY!
I believe the message for this first point is clear. The Lord is saying, "If you want to walk into your destiny and accomplish all I've called you to do, then you must walk in faith." There is no room for unbelief in the purposes of God. Yes, sometimes it is hard to believe God, but just like Jairus, we must take the Lord at His Word and "not be afraid; just believe."
2. Unbelief Will Confine the Spirit and Ultimately Push Him Away
When the Lord spoke this into my spirit, it kind of made me nervous. The last thing I want to be found guilty of is pushing the presence of the Lord away. But the Lord made it clear that when we allow ourselves to move in unbelief, that is exactly what we do. When God wants to show up and do miracles in our lives or in our services, if we are moving in unbelief, we should not expect to receive anything. God is looking for those who are eagerly crying out in expectation and anticipation with a heart full of faith to receive whatever the Lord has in store for them. This is the kind of attitude that the Lord cannot resist. A heart that longs and thirsts for the presence of the Lord. A heart that cries out in faith for the presence of the Lord to show up and show Himself Mighty.
I can't imagine any greater place in scripture that the Lord would have wanted to minister to the people than in His home town. I'm sure that Jesus had a tremendous desire to minister to His earthly family and friends. To those from His own town, in order to bless them and honor them. But if you are familiar scripture, you know that He was not able to minister in His home town. Let's look at the scripture:
"Soon afterwards he left that section of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his home town. The next Sabbath he went to the synagogue to teach, and the people were astonished at his wisdom and his miracles because he was just a local man like themselves.``He's no better than we are,'' they said. ``He's just a carpenter, Mary's boy, and a brother of James and Joseph, Judas and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.'' And they were offended! Then Jesus told them, ``A prophet is honored everywhere except in his home town and among his relatives and by his own family.'' And because of their unbelief he couldn't do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he could hardly accept the fact that they wouldn't believe in him. Then he went out among the villages, teaching."
Mark 6:1-6 (LVB)
Jesus wasn't able to do any miracles among because of a very specific reason, unbelief. Can you imagine the hurt He must have felt? I like this translation where it says, "He could hardly accept that fact that they wouldn't believe in him." I believe He was hurt. he wanted to bless His home town. These were His family and childhood friends. But because of their unbelief he wasn't able to. Also, notice that Jesus left very quickly. He stayed for a few days but because of their unbelief, He left. Their unbelief pushed Jesus away. I bet that if they had received the Lord with gratitude and faith, He would have stuck around until the whole town was healed! Jesus would have loved to have ministered to them, but their unbelief drove Him away.
I believe that if we would embrace the Spirit of faith in our services, that God would show up and blow our minds. When we kick out that nasty spirit of unbelief that drives the presence of the Lord out of town, and ask the Lord to pour out His Spirit of faith, His power will break out like never before. We must move in faith. We must repent of all unbelief and ask the Lord to fill us with His faith.
Unbelief will push the Spirit away, but faith will cause the Spirit to draw near unto us. have you noticed that to all of the dangers of unbelief, the exact opposite is also true. Unbelief aborts destiny, but faith ushers us into it. Unbelief drives the Spirit away but faith causes Him to draw near to us. And lastly,
3. Unbelief Will Stop the Miracle Flow
We've already seen this affect in the previous scripture references, but let's look at one more.
Mark 9:17-29 says,
"One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, ``Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal--he can't talk because he is possessed by a demon. And whenever the demon is in control of him it dashes him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid. So I begged your disciples to cast out the demon, but they couldn't do it.'' Jesus said [to his disciples ], ``Oh, what tiny faith you have; how much longer must I be with you until you believe? How much longer must I be patient with you? Bring the boy to me.'' So they brought the boy, but when he saw Jesus the demon convulsed the child horribly, and he fell to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth. ``How long has he been this way?'' Jesus asked the father. And he replied, ``Since he was very small, and the demon often makes him fall into the fire or into water to kill him. Oh, have mercy on us and do something if you can.'' ``If I can?'' Jesus asked. ``Anything is possible if you have faith.'' The father instantly replied, ``I do have faith; oh, help me to have more!'' When Jesus saw the crowd was growing he rebuked the demon. ``O demon of deafness and dumbness,'' he said, ``I command you to come out of this child and enter him no more!'' Then the demon screamed terribly and convulsed the boy again and left him; and the boy lay there limp and motionless, to all appearance dead. A murmur ran through the crowd--``He is dead.'' But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood up and was all right! Afterwards, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, ``Why couldn't we cast that demon out?'' Jesus replied, ``Cases like this require prayer.'' (LVB)
We can see here that the disciples were unsuccessful in delivering the boy from the demon that was possessing him. Jesus made it clear why they were unable to drive it out. In verse 19, Jesus says, "Oh what tiny faith you have; how much longer must I be with you until you believe?" Jesus had a goal for spending so much time with His disciples; to make them believe. Jesus also, states something very profound in this verse. They weren't able to cast out the demon because of their lack of faith. I believe that when Jesus said, "Oh what tiny faith you have," He was exposing the problem. Unbelief will stop the miracle flow. Jesus also made it clear towards the end of the passage that the disciples were also lacking in prayer and fasting. (v. 29) Prayer and fasting will increase your faith. We need prayer and fasting to help us overcome any unbelief and to help us walk into new levels of faith and power.
Just as unbelief will stop the miracle flow, the opposite is also true; faith will blast it wide open! When we begin to move in the faith of God and pray for a Spirit of faith, miracles will happen in our lives and in our services! If faith helps us walk into our destiny and causes the Spirit to draw near, then obviously miracles will result. When the presence of the Lord comes, miracles always follow.
Conclusion
I hope this word will be an encouragement to you as you seek God this year. I truly believe God is releasing an anointing to break the spirit of unbelief and help us to walk in the spirit of faith. I have recently began praying in this way before any ministry opportunity that I get. I pray that the Lord would release a spirit of faith so that His presence can draw near and He can have His way. We need Him to have His way, because His way is always EXACTLY what we need.
Unbelief aborts destiny, but faith ushers us into it.
Unbelief confines the Spirit and ultimately pushes Him away
,but faith causes Him to draw near unto us.
Unbelief stops the miracle flow, but faith opens it.
Lord, I repent of my unbelief. Forgive me for the times when I moved in unbelief. Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to invite the Spirit of faith into my life. Lord, release the Spirit of faith and help me to move in the faith of God so that I may walk into my destiny, draw near to your precious presence and live under an open heaven. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
God Bless!
