~~~ Numbers 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26A-29A, 34-35 ~~~
~~~ Psalm 106 ~~~ Matthew 15: 21-28 ~~~
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
Jesus rebukes his apostles for their lack of faith.
Peter slips into the storm waters for his lack of faith.
The Canaanite woman, who should not even be speaking to Jesus,
has faith so great it compels her to stay.
This woman seemed to be a nuisance to the apostles.
They urged Jesus to send her away.
They did not want Jesus to hear her cries
much less listen to her plea.
The apostles were only trying to protect Jesus from outsiders.
But Jesus does not let himself be defined by their perceptions.
Jesus recognizes her tremendous exhibition of faith.
She is publicly exercising her faith,
which is more than could be said for the apostles.
This woman believed that if she could just talk with Jesus
he would answer her prayer.
As it turns out she was right to ignore the preferred decision.
She does not quiet herself...she does not quietly walk away.
We have so much to learn from this minor encounter with Jesus.
We can learn from this woman...
We can also learn from the actions of Jesus.
This woman did not let fear or rules paralyze her.
Nothing was going to keep her away from facing Jesus.
As a woman she even goes one more step by arguing with Jesus.
“Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
She speaks openly while knowing her proper place.
She speaks respectfully while telling her story.
She does not use many words...
She does not try to pad the request...
She doe not try to make excuses as to why she is there.
She comes with one request...
not for herself, but for her daughter who is ill.
Does the faith of this Canaanite woman embarrass you?
Maybe it should.
Maybe we just think is our head
that we have sufficient faith.
This woman took action
which activates her faith
from deep within her heart.
We cannot leave our faith to lie in wait within our head.
We must keep our faith alive with food from our heart...our emotions.
It is when our faith is called into action
that we must not allow it to remain buried in our head.
It is only then that we admit our gift of faith
must be alive in our heart.
Even Jesus tries to send her away without success.
I invite you to pray today, not for just an increase in faith,
but for your actions to bring that faith into your heart.
Jesus is loving, forgiving, and compassionate.
Put your faith into action,
...activate your faith...
you will be Blessed.
~~~Peace~~~
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