Why Unbelief?

Updated: January 5, 2026

Why aren’t most people winning in this life? Is it the lack of good upbringing, lack of opportunity, lack of skills, lack of money, or the lack of any other material advantage or resource? Jesus Himself maintained that all things are possible to those who believe. As members of God’s family, we can ask for anything in faith and expect to receive it. There are no limits for those who put their complete trust and faith in the Lord, those who refuse to accept anything less than what God commanded and promised. (See also Why Ask?)

One might say then that unbelief is holding us back from God’s best. The Israelites who left Egypt illustrated this. Their unbelief eventually led to open rebellion, and they disqualified themselves from the great future God had mapped out for them.

So what can we do about unbelief? Like the emotional father of Mark chapter 9, we must get desperate or serious enough to seek an answer to this question. Thankfully, we know exactly what to do: we apply the Word of God to our hearts and minds like a farmer applies seed to a field. That Word tells us what we can believe for. We hear it, we believe it, and we act on it. This is how we are Born Again into God’s family, and it is also how we can receive everything else God offers.

Yet know this: unbelief can grow just like faith. If it is allowed to grow, it will choke out your faith, effectively nullifying it. So don’t give place to the thoughts of unbelief! Give them no airtime in your mind! Weed all of that out of your life, and avoid the sources of unbelief as much as possible. If you can keep out the unbelief, you won’t need much faith at all. In fact, only an amount as tiny as a mustard seed will get any job done!
(1 John 5:4, Mark 9:22-24, Matthew 13:58, Matthew 17:19-20, Mark 6:5-6, Mark 16:14, John 15:7, Mark 4:20, Psalm 78:41-42, Romans 11:20, Hebrews 3:16-19)