14 When they came to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic, and suffers grievously; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

17 Jesus answered, “Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked him, the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, “Why weren’t we able to cast it out?”

20 He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 But this kind doesn’t go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Matthew 16:24-28 - World English Bible

How do we measure faith? Is it the strength of conviction and zealous behavior? Is it time in prayer and patience with others? While we can see faith spreads out in many dimensions, we can say faith is what we say and do, what we think and feel about our relationship with God.

How do we measure faith in the face of evil? These times of testing rock us to the core. How we react doesn't seem to be adequate, for evil stands strong. This was the dilemma the disciples faced with a demon possessed boy who behaved in a self destructive way. Jesus blamed the situation on a lack of faith, but whose shortcoming? The man believed the disciples could heal his son and the disciples had faith enough to attempt the cure. But that wasn't enough, so the Lord stepped in and cured the boy. Then he chided his followers for their lack of faith. Evil that strong required prayer and fasting, spiritual practices that prepared the person to face such malevolent power.

How do we measure faith? Maybe that's the wrong question to ask. Maybe we should ask: what are we doing to face the challenges of our day? Do we pray and fast and give to others, not just to combat evil, but to do good in our word?

What have you done today to make your world a little better?