"I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

These are the words of a desperate father crying out to Jesus for help. The man's son had suffered life-threatening seizures since childhood and he was desperately afraid that the boy would die from them. The disciples had failed to cure the boy, so they brought him to Jesus. When his son began to convulse, the frantic father pleaded, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus assured him that everything is possible to one who has faith. The man cried out, "I do believe," but knowing his faith was weak, he added, "Help me overcome my unbelief!"

Every believer identifies with this man's struggle. When we take needs to our Savior, we do so in faith, but we know that our faith is imperfect. Belief is mixed with unbelief. At such times, we take courage in remembering that Jesus didn't require perfect faith of the father who came to him for help. Instead, he eagerly and completely healed the man's son. Beyond that, Jesus taught the boy, his father, and everyone who witnessed the healing a lasting lesson about imperfect faith and the grace of God.

The journey of faith is like a ladder. Each rung is fashioned from a lesson learned — some when faith is strong, others when it is fragile. Some rungs are hewn from failure; others from success. A few fit instantly into place; far more require repeated measuring and much smoothing by the Lord's plane. Some rungs are milled from deep regret and others from inexpressible joy.

Regardless of how a lesson is learned, the Lord invites us to plant our feet on that rung and to continue our upward progress. On each step, declare to him, "I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!" And be assured, even if a rung was hewn from great sorrow, we find comfort there, for because of God's grace, even life's crosswinds serve a purpose.