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, although it was not a bad result, it was not good enough to secure admission for the specific course I wanted to study. This meant that I had to re-write these papers,
As a young Christian, I knew how to pray. I approached the resit of the exam with a firm belief in God and did my best to prepare for it. As happened in the first exam, I had the same problem getting the grades I needed for the specific subject and it hit me really hard. At this point, I started thinking of switching careers or going the alternate route.
Anyone could be forgiven for concluding that I probably did not understand the subject well enough to pass the exams”. I thought that was my problem too, until when I began teaching other students the same subject and they passed while I did not. It was at this point I realised that this was not about my ability. I knew I had a spiritual battle on my hands and I began to pray and fast but above all I began to lean and trust in God more 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 how easy the questions were; I could solve them with my eyes closed! I finished the 2-hour paper in a little over an 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, my result was excellent!
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 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 to the man for his inability to believe that Jesus 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? The Webster’s dictionary defines it as, “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!”
