"Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief. If ye have faith…nothing shall be impossible unto you." See Matthew 17:13-20

“TRY, TRY AGAIN!”

The disciples were willing to face their failure; that they hadn’t been able to cure the man’s son. They had failed this time. But, they had come back to Jesus to figure it out. It’s like when you flunk a test, or your marriage turns chilly, or you didn’t get what you asked God for - instead of quitting, you come back to your study group, to post-marital counseling, or to church to figure out what went wrong. See, after you’ve figured it out, you’ve got to functionally forget about your failures. Don’t let your failures paralyze you, immobilize you, stress you or depress you. It was imperative for the disciples to figure it out, so they could focus on the future. In other words, learn the lessons, but then, focus on the future! Forget about the man who wronged you, the woman who played you, the pregnancy you didn’t plan, the relationship you shouldn’t have been in. Forget about the deal that fell through, the business that fizzled, the partner who cut out on you or cut you out. Face your failure, figure it out; then forget about it and focus on the future. I believe that’s why the disciples came back to Jesus. They knew that hanging with Jesus, they’d get another chance. Yes, when you hang with Jesus, failure never gets the final word! Your “future” is literally ahead of you! If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

As Jesus saw it, the problem was the disciples’ unbelief. Their faith had been negatively influenced by (v17) a “faithless and perverse generation;” a disbelieving, non-Christian, heathen, corrupted, immoral generation. Sounds like our generation! Jesus reminds us all that faithless folk will mess up our faith. Man’s diagnosis and prognosis about the boy were so dire – the word on the street among the faithless was so pessimistic, the disciples lost faith! In order to focus on the future, they had to find their faith! “If you have faith...” Church, go back and find your faith in a God who is always present, a provider and a protector; One who can do “exceedingly...” You can’t allow the actualities of life to deter you from believing in the potentialities of the marvelous, matchless, miraculous, mountain-moving hand of God upon your situation. If you find your faith, and especially [Jesus adds, in v21, KJV], if you also fall down in earnest prayer and fast - nothing shall be impossible. Go ahead, try, try again! If the mountain didn’t move the first time - if you messed up, the marriage didn’t work, your children disappointed you, the cancer recurred, the bills weren’t paid, the dream didn’t materialize, you and your spouse suffered a miscarriage, you flunked out, didn’t get the job, didn’t get the loan or the grant – the first time, rather than be depressed, be impressed that Jesus said, “The mountain will move!” If at first you don’t succeed, what are you going to do? Face it, figure it out, forget about it, find your faith, fall and fast, and TRY, TRY AGAIN!!