And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching (Mark 6:1–6, KJV).
God always has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. We are no different from the people who lived during Jesus’ day. He wanted to heal the people (as He does for us); however, He couldn’t do all that He wanted in Nazareth because of their unbelief.
Jesus had poured out miracle upon miracle in other locations. We see examples in numerous Scriptures: people came to Jesus who needed deliverance and healing (Matthew 8:16, 15:30; Mark 3:10, 6:13). He healed many and delivered many. In fact, in some cases, we see where He healed all people. God’s desire to bless His people also continues through His disciples (Acts 8:5–7); many are to be healed by God working through us. When Jesus shows up there are great things and great joy.
In Nazareth, the people failed to recognize the need for faith (Matthew 18:18–19). And, because they didn’t believe, Jesus wasn’t free to perform miracles. God will work where He can find faith—He can do the work alone, but He wants to partner with our faith!
Scripture speaks about a woman with an issue of blood. She suffered for many years and had tried everything else to cure her sickness, but nothing worked. However, she decided if she just touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed (Mark 5:26–30). When the woman reached out to lay hold on Jesus’ garment, she felt her healing. Jesus told her that her faith is what made her whole (Mark 5:34). The faith had to spring forth from her mind before she felt it in her body. When our faith comes in unity with God, miracles will flow.
Faith is the ability to believe in something strongly, even when we don’t know where it’s coming from (Hebrews 11:1). If we believe and expect (exercise) faith correctly, we will see the miraculous in our lives. But, most of us misuse the “expectation” in life. When we doubt, worry, or distrust God, the blessing of the expectation doesn’t manifest correctly. We’ve chosen to believe in the wrong things.
The one roadblock stopping God from moving is us alone. We need to use our faith and expectation properly to see the promises of God in our life. For the woman with the issue of blood, she saw her miracle when she decided in her heart that God could heal her (Mark 5:28).
God wants to do something in our hearts today (not just in other churches and in other people). Let’s believe that He can and will do something for us. We need to ask Him to turn our faith around and we’ll see Him work right where we’re at.