If I can? No. You can, if you believe.

Picture this gut-wrenching, soul-shaking scene in vivid detail. A heartbroken father has endured years of pure hell—watching his precious boy convulse, foam at the mouth, and slam violently into raging fires and deep waters as a merciless demon tries to murder him again and again. Sleepless nights that felt like torture chambers. Hope shredded to pieces. He drags the boy to Jesus’ famous disciples… and they faceplant hard in front of everyone. And when Jesus saw how hard His disciples faceplanted, He wasn’t laughing. He got angry and called them spiritual perverts.

In this scene, with tears carving rivers down the father’s dust-covered face, voice cracking with total despair yet blazing with a father’s ferocious love, he collapses at Jesus’ feet and cries out: 

“Lord… if You can do anything… have compassion on us and help us!”

Many parents feel that same knife twist—the exact same crushing weight when the doctor’s report lands like a bomb, the bank account bottoms out again, the marriage is bleeding out on the rocks, or that addiction keeps dragging you (or your loved one) under. “God… if You can just do something…”

Jesus’ response shows compassion but is delivered with frustration and irritation toward unbelief.

Jesus doesn’t hand out soft religious hugs or weak “there, there” platitudes. His compassion is edgy and shocking to faithless ears. He leans in with His signature grin and irritated fire in His eyes, and drops the bombshell:

“‘If I can?’ What are you even talking about?! All things are possible to him who believes!”

The Greek wordplay explodes—“can,” “able,” “possible”—all detonating from the same raw “dunamis” root of resurrection power. Jesus, the original extreme faith teacher, flips the entire burden: Stop wondering if I have the ability, and start looking in the mirror and wondering if you have the ability. And as you look and meditate on this, allow me to tell you the secret that the faithless kept from you, but I will shout it from the rooftops. If you believe, you—that’s right, you—have the ability to deliver your son from demons and sickness.

Jesus, the ultimate no-BS Faith Coach, flips the entire script: Stop obsessing over whether I have the power… and start obsessing over the fact that you do. This was said by Jesus, the most God-centered person who ever lived, and yes, He was even more God-centered than you. Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, because you won’t find anyone more God-centered than Jesus. He said, “If you believe, you have the ability to deliver your son, crush the demon, and shatter chains.”

Think about how God-focused Jesus was. Instead of saying a typical man-centered doctrine like, “Look to My Father, who is all-powerful and with Him all things are possible. If it is His will, He will or will not heal the boy.” No, Jesus’ theology centered on God in this awesome way. “By looking at Me for the ability to deliver your child, you are centering on the wrong person. Look to yourself. If you believe, then—you, not God—that’s right, you—have all possibilities open to you. If you want the boy healed, you have that ability—if you believe.”

This is illustrated in Peter’s words in Acts 3. He did not say, “What God has, God gives.” Rather, Peter spoke in the God-centered way Jesus instructed us. “What I have, I give—in Jesus’ name, walk.” Think about that. “What I have, I give.” This is God-focused on steroids.

It is not because we have inherit power in ourselves, but because God is so perfect and seamless to fulfil His promises, when a person confesses them in faith. It is because we have been re-created in Jesus, as part of Him, conferred with His Name to use, and authority to sling around as a prince of Heaven.

Many would call Jesus cruel for not coddling the man’s pain first. Nope—this was perfect love refusing to leave him a helpless loser. And that was the hard truth. They were losers—the devil was stealing, killing, and destroying them. Jesus did not just love the father; He loved him and then showed extra love. He handed him the power upgrade that turns broken people into mighty warriors, and losers into heroes wielding resurrection power at the demand of faith.

Deeper love illustration: If I saw a stranger’s kid in danger, basic compassion would lead me to save the day, but then I would keep walking. But if that was my son? My family? My close friend. My ride-or-die love? I’m not stopping at rescue. I’d train them, equip them, and counsel them so that they would stop being losers and become heroes—stop being victims and become warriors. This shows us how much Jesus loved them. He did not coddle them, leaving them in a place where they could be hurt again. Jesus counseled the father so that when the next attack happens, the father knows he can rescue; by faith the father has the power to overcome and shut the mouths of lions.

Through the finished work of the cross—where He took every curse, sin, sickness, poverty, and demonic chain (Isaiah 53, Colossians 2:15, Galatians 3:13)—He didn’t just forgive you. He empowered you. You are a brand-new creation. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. The authority is now yours. His Name is engraved on your tongue.

Your doctor’s grim death sentence? Jesus leans in with fire blazing: “What do you mean ‘if I can heal?’ You have the ability if you believe!”

That mountain of debt crushing your family? “What do you mean ‘if I can provide?’ You have the ability if you believe!”

That marriage storm or the habit that keeps winning? He’s still asking with that same passionate grin, yet laced with irritation: “If you believe—then anything and everything is now possible for you! You have the ability to make all things possible, when you believe.”

When you hear the irritation in His voice, do not be disheartened. It is love that compels God to counsel you to be a winner. He likes you.

No more victim prayers from the foot of the cross, warrior. Lock eyes with the enthroned King. Feel His holy, empowering challenge hit your spirit like lightning. Rise up as the new creation you already are—seated with Christ, armed with the power of the God of gods. And when you place your faith in His promises, you become a hero “of whom the world was not worthy to have known.”

So tell me, champion (yes, I’m calling you that on purpose because that’s how He sees you)… what “impossible” situation has you feeling like that desperate father right now?

Jesus loves you so much that He refuses to just heal and walk away. It hurts Him to watch His kids falling victim to demons, circumstances, and fear. That’s why He stops, looks you dead in the soul, and reveals the glorious secret: You have the ability—because He paid for it in full. He loves you too much to leave you weak. He wants you walking as the faith legend the world will talk about.

Life with God is filled with the love of God. It’s a powerful love. It is love that rescues you; and it is also love that empowers. It is love that turns losers into heroes.