| The Best Things in Life |
Chapter 9 |
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Thus are we co-workers with God in all our life, in all our duties, in all our struggles. We cannot do these things ourselves. “With men it is impossible.” But, on the other hand, God does not do the things for us. “All things are possible with God.” That is, all things are possible for us, with God. This is a most practical teaching. To each of us the Master gives a work which is altogether our own. No one can evade his own personal responsibility. Neither can any one say, “I cannot do anything.” You cannot alone, but with God, which is working with God, there is nothing that is impossible to you. This is not your work, it is not God’s – it is yours and God’s.
It is by faith that we thus become co-workers with God. While Jesus and three of his disciples were on the Transfiguration Mount, a story of pitiful failure was being enacted at the foot of the mountain. A father had brought his epileptic son to the disciples during the night, asking them to cure him. The disciples tried, but could not do it. When Jesus came down in the morning, the father brought the son to him. “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us,” cried the father, in his distress. The “if” revealed the weakness of the man’s faith. Nothing could be done for the boy while this “if” remained in the father’s heart. Even Jesus, with his divine power, was balked in healing by the “if.” “If thou canst!” Jesus replied. “All things are possible to him that believeth.” Jesus could not do anything for the boy save through the father, and before the father could do anything the doubt must be taken out of his heart.
This incident has serious teaching for parents. Something is wrong with your child. It may be sickness, or it may be evil in some form. You bring the child to Christ, while your faith is small. You tell him your heart’s burden of distress or anxiety, and then you say, “O Master, if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” But your “if” tells of faltering faith. The blessing is within your reach, but it cannot yet come to our child because of your lack of faith. “If thou canst believe!” the Master answers in yearning love. “All things are possible to him that believeth.” The healing, the helping, waits for faith in you.
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