Following God – Staying the Course

Matthew 15: 21 – 28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." 25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (NIV)
We should applaud this woman for her faith. No matter how many obstacles were in her way, she persisted. The disciples were not being helpful here and readily sent her away. Jesus was not quickly moved by her either and for some reason He was silent.
Jesus knew His goal was to be alone and refreshed, that is why He withdrew. He was to have private time with God and with His disciples, but He always wanted to do the Father's will even at His great inconvenience or disruption to the flow of His life. You have probably noticed that ministry and vital inroads into people’s lives never comes at a convenient time. Hurt and heartache are immune to schedules. He could easily have healed this woman's afflicted daughter, but for whatever reason He is teaching us some things here. It could be He is focused on ministering to God and to His disciples that He becomes narrowly focused and misses out on the need in front of Him. It is as though His eyes need a moment to adjust to what now has come before Him. How did Jesus test whether this was a real need from the Father for Him to attend to or just another disruption? Jesus responded four times to the woman's persistent crying.
Firstly, we see Jesus was absolutely quiet. He said nothing. The first test is to discern the real need. Sometimes we need to be silent and take a moment before we react to the need – or listen to the cry. Is it a quick cry or persistent? I wonder if this woman had stopped her crying if Jesus would have responded to her – but in her persistence we see her desperation.
Questions: How many times have we given up asking the Lord for something and might have missed the answer and the blessing simply because we ceased to ask?
How many times have we moved quickly to assist someone only to realize their need was a need of the moment and they were no longer pleading for help or ministry? I am sure you have done the same thing.
Secondly, Jesus stated His mission, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Jesus heard the request through the filter of the mission God had placed on His life. In this case, we clearly see that Jesus was sent to His own people - the Jews. Jesus was very mission-conscious. He was focused and understood He could not nor was He called to do it all. But the woman was focused too and nothing was going to stop her. There is a valuable lesson on persistence here – not annoying, arrogance, but a blessed persistence. Also note: her persistence was not for herself by on behalf of her daughter who was suffering the torment of demon activity in her life.
Thirdly, Jesus tested her faith. He shared a story that excluded her from gaining a portion of the goodness and blessings of God. But her desperateness, her willingness to humbly respond, and her faith, all came alive and she boldly tells Jesus, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
Lastly, Jesus' clear affirmation of her faith and an announcement that her daughter suffering would be over. "O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish." Jesus was away from it all but He delighted in the fact that He could provide her with blessing and care for people God had sent to Him no matter what He was doing.
The heart to follow God will keep us focused upon Him but this will be greatly tested. Stay focused on God but know the test of your focus will come. Jesus had a test of His focus here and whether or not He should move from what He was doing. The woman in our story had a focus too – her mission was to see healing take place.
The focus of our mission, the ministry, the duty and present responsibilities that we hold to will all be tested.
As Jesus' disciples, we might be overwhelmed by a person's persistent requests. Our plans, though, must always be ready for the exception. Blessed are the flexible. Whether we are busy, on vacation, a spiritual retreat, or just sitting around - we need to be alert to possible interruptions that could be from God. I am not saying that every time we are interrupted that God is moving us into giving or receiving – but that we must be able to discern His purpose in the moment and look for Him and His workings. We should not easily give up our mission's focus. We must not lose focus by others that are wishing for us to short cut the necessary tests to discern what the Father's will is. And we should never lose focus when someone is simply trying to circumvent the things they need to do for their own blessings and healings to come. Recently someone asked me to pray for them and I simply asked them if they were praying and they said, not really. I can pray but they must be as well and not circumvent what God desires to do in them. We might use the silent test or the 'no' test. But when desperate faith is so apparent and confirmed in our hearts, then we should know our Heavenly Father has sent them and will give us all the extraordinary grace to meet that need. Stay close to God and ready to serve Him.