Help My Unbelief!

“Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Mark 9:22

It was difficult for the father to believe when he saw his son foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth and being seized and thrown down. And sometimes it’s difficult for us to believe as well, and that is when we should pray the same prayer the father uttered in his helplessness, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” 

There was once a young boy nicknamed Sparky. He failed every subject in eighth grade and in high school he  flunked Algebra, English and managed to get the lowest score in Physics in the school’s history. He did not excel in anything and even managed to do badly in sports. His classmates and teachers all thought he was mediocre in everything he did. 

But even if everyone thought he was a loser, Sparky believed in himself. He had faith that he was great at one thing, drawing! He submitted a series of sketches for the high school yearbook but it was rejected. Before he was drafted into the US Army, he took a correspondence course in art, and then he ambitiously wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios, submitting drawings he had worked for hours on. He received a form letter saying his work was not acceptable.

Eventually he drew his autobiography in cartoon form, of a shy, withdrawn ‘chronic underachiever’, the embodiment of insecurity and self-doubt. Finally, after several tries, his comic strip was accepted by United Feature Syndicate. The comic strip “Peanuts” and Charlie Brown and his gang debuted on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. Charles “Sparky” Schultz who once described his life as being “one of rejection”, created one of the most popular and influential comic strips of all time. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep going if we just get rebuffed all the time, our ideas get dismissed, or we get passed over. Many of us, like Sparky, struggle to find acceptance and success among our peers. It’s important to be our own cheer leader, to know the truth about ourselves, that we have worth, that we are in fact the apple of God’s eye! “I do believe! Help my unbelief!”