Kevin preached about the Syrophoenecian Woman today. I’ve always loved this story, especially when Jesus says, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it unto you as you have believed.” I long for Jesus to say that to me. To impress the Master and King with my great faith in Him! Is this not a worthy goal? After discovering how her faith expressed itself, however, I wasn’t sure I possessed that kind of impressive faith.
When Jesus said, “I did not come to give bread to dogs, but to the children of Israel,” the woman did not wince or turn away, offended that Jesus had called her a dog. She persisted in her request, for the sake of her daughter. She didn’t care what Jesus called her, if she could only have a well child. My eyes were opened to her sacrifice of faith when Kevin concluded with this statement: “Real love shows itself in how much it is willing to be inconvenienced.”
Ouch.
Do I commit to pray for someone, and then lay it down if it is taking too long for the answer to come?
Am I persistent in prayer, even when it seems God is ignoring me, or passing over my request to give others what they want? Do I trust my feelings, or His character, proven to me again and again?
How much am I willing to be inconvenienced?
The question for me then becomes not “how great is my faith?” but, “how great is my love?”
God, forgive me.
--- Jen
Green Lizard
10 years ago
Ouch. My love isn't where it should be. When I first read that dog verse as a teen, I cringed. I couldn't believe that the Savior I'd been taught was so loving and gentle would say that. But there's many sides to our God and that woman was courageous.
ReplyDeleteJessie: I think Jesus was seeing how far she was willing to take her faith. It seemed like an insult, but His other encounters with women proves how kind and understanding He is. I believe the Holy Spirit was directing His words, so that we'd have this example of faith.
ReplyDeleteDoes that make sense?
Jen
Probably, but it still made me cringe. LOL Maybe because in a sense, I'm the dog too, being a gentile. But you're probably right that it was a test. She had a humble spirit, I think.
ReplyDelete