There is quite some margin between believing in the existence of God and believing God for some definite work of miracle or blessing in our lives. Not many people are steeped in atheism. People may be disagreeable as to what is the authentic path to God; but you may not find many playing the fool by saying there is no God. The challenge, even among believers in Christ, is how to channel our faith in God to meeting some specific desires in life. Here is an illustration. You may have an entire house wired up and surging with electricity. That alone does not mean you will receive warmth or have any appliances in the house functioning. That only happens when you plug the heater or other appliances into the sockets provided.
God knows the limit of our faith. If we make a passionate plea to Him at our wits’ end, His mercy will take over.
It is the same thing with God. Our God is altogether powerful and merciful. He can do any list of things for His children. However, He expects us to approach Him by faith; and here we mean faith for exploits. Unfortunately, this type of faith is not always present. Our text reports the case of a father who brought his son for healing. His coming to Jesus was a demonstration of faith. Yet we hear him still speaking of his unbelief. The first belief has to do with divine existence and ability; while the missing belief was the one to give him the desired result. He did the right thing by asking Jesus to help his unbelief. His child was eventually healed. God knows the limit of our faith. If we make a passionate plea to Him at our wits’ end, His mercy will take over.