Can belief and unbelief coexist? I thought I knew the answer to that but I came across a passage of scripture that made me question my opinion.
Surprisingly, it was Genesis 17:17 (NLT) “Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”
God is confirming the covenant he made with Abraham. He had already made a promise to him in Genesis 15. This is when He told Abraham his descendants would be as countless as the stars and Abraham believed God. Genesis 15:6 says “And [Abraham] believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
Fast forward to Genesis 17 (about 14 years later) and God is now confirming the covenant he made in Genesis 15 (and prior). But now He’s making it official, like how a signature or a handshake confirms an agreement.
God reveals more details of the covenant and tells Abraham his wife, who is beyond the age of motherhood, will have a son. This same man who believed God when he was told his descendants would be as numerous as the stars now laughs inwardly in disbelief.
How could that be? The answer to that question can be found in the New Testament in Mark 9:14-27.
A father’s story
It’s the story of a father who has a son possessed by an evil spirit. He brought his son to the disciples, but they couldn’t heal him. Then he asks Jesus for help. Jesus tells him “Anything is possible if a person believes. (Mark 9:23)” The father replies he believes but ‘help him overcome his unbelief.’ It seems like a contradiction. How can belief and unbelief coexist?
It’s simple, the father believed Jesus could heal but he wasn’t sure if it would happen for him. They’d been dealing with this since he was a baby. The father was afraid to hope, fearful his son couldn’t be healed. The disciples already validated that when they were unable to cast out the evil spirit from the boy.
In Abraham’s case, he believed God had the power to give him descendants but he didn’t know how it could happen when he and his wife were so old. In other words the coexistence of belief and unbelief. It only becomes a problem if unbelief prevents us from moving forward.
Abraham may have laughed in disbelief at the thought he and Sarah would become parents but that didn’t stop him from obeying God. The Bible says, that same day he had all the males in his household – including himself – circumcised (Gen 17:23). His unbelief didn’t prevent him from moving forward in faith.
What I’m Learning
Belief and unbelief can coexist. Anytime we try to make sense of things through our understanding, there’s a potential for unbelief. Abraham believed God was capable of giving him descendants as numerous as the stars but he didn’t see how he and Sarah could be parents at such an old age. The father whose son was possessed by the evil spirit believed Jesus could heal. But he’d been watching his son suffering for so long that he was scared to hope for healing.
God works outside our mortal intelligence and limitations, so the potential for unbelief will always be there. However, faith is moving forward and trusting God even when belief and unbelief coexist.