“Then came she and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ But he answered and said, ‘It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.’ And she said, ‘Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’ And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matt. 15:25-28).
Under similar circumstances most of us would have given up, but not this woman. First Jesus ignored her; then He said to His disciples, “I’m not even sent to help her.” Still, she came she and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” This Gentile mother wouldn’t leave Jesus alone!
Then Jesus told her it wasn’t right to take the children’s bread and give it to dogs. Jesus called her a dog! Most of us would have gone home angry. But look what she told Jesus: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
You may have thought she responded that way because of her humble attitude. “O Lord, just give me one of the crumbs from Your table!” But she was really saying, “Lord, I don’t need the whole loaf. Give that to the children, although most of them won’t take it. Just give me a crumb. I know what Your bread will do.”
She was not talking about how much humility she had; she was talking about how powerful Jesus’ bread is! She was saying, “Call me anything you want to, but heal my daughter.”
Then Jesus told her, “With faith like that, you can have anything you want!” Jesus had taken this woman to the limits, and she’d passed the test. He knew her faith would turn His power loose.
Great faith always takes God at His Word, and that’s what this Gentile woman did. It paid to hang on and refuse to give up, because she received the answer she’d come for: Her daughter was made whole!
I hold fast to God’s Word with tenacity until my
healing is manifested. I refuse to give up,
because I know that God’s Word works!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
For over 40 years, Pastors Mark and Janet Brazee have traveled throughout the world sharing the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Together they've shared the powerful truths of faith and healing in more than 50 nations.
Today Mark and Janet pastor World Outreach Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they base their ongoing outreach to the world. The Brazees still travel as the Lord leads, and they are raising up a congregation who share their passion to reach Tulsa and the world.