“And Jesus arose and went away from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He went into a house and did not want anyone to know [that He was there]; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from public notice].” Mark 7:24 (Amplified)
If you are a celebrity in need of a breather, you probably would not want to announce to the world your holiday destination and would probably travel incognito in a bid to evade the paparazzi that are always hounding you. No wonder the bible says that there is nothing new under the sun. Jesus found Himself in the same quandary two thousand years ago and as expected went where he thought he would enjoy some anonymity, the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. Nevertheless, Jesus’ plan to blend in with the locals did not last for too long before a very desperate, highly determined and totally dependent woman got a whiff of His presence. Jesus’ reputation had preceded Him and a spiritual smart Alec was about to take advantage of it.
Jesus knew that He was under no obligation to minister to anyone in Tyre and Sidon because His ministry was primarily to the Jews. He knew that in God’s larger scheme of things the Gentiles’ turn would come later. However, it seemed no one had told this woman whose daughter was demonised and needed deliverance that it was not yet her turn to receive God’s blessings. She had a reasoning faith – the kind that finds a way or seeks out loopholes to take advantage of watertight and disadvantageous laws. So, she approached Jesus pleading for mercy with the added determination to come away with her desire – her daughter’s life. So, when Jesus refused to even attend to her on the basis of her nationality, she humbly, but persistently countered with the disarming argument that even little dogs get to eat of the crumbs that fall off the table and Jesus agreed with her line of reasoning. He knew that He had to change His plan and attend to this woman’s need as it was a classic case of an irresistible force colliding with an immovable object. Her faith knocked the bottom off Jesus’ argument and He gladly gave her what she came for. By the time she returned home her daughter was healed.
The term blind faith is at best an incorrect way of defining faith, because it gives the impression that faith is mindless or is never based on fact. The reality is that there is logic to faith. While you cannot use logic, defined as deep reasoning, to birth faith as this is the preserve of God’s word, you can nevertheless, using logic, reason yourself to higher faith as exemplified by the people whose stories we have been considering, as opposed to reasoning yourself out of faith like the Israelites who perished in the wilderness. Therefore, whatever challenges you might be facing, choose to believe in God’s ability to resolve it and maintain the mindset that actively seeks for solutions, and finds it, even if it means thinking outside the box. Just as this woman’s bold gate crashing did not take too much out of Jesus as to force Him to cancel His holiday, taking your need to Him in faith will only force your plight into His reckoning and cause Him to temporarily suspend His agenda in order to attend to you. He probably enjoyed His holiday more because He knew He had decimated Satan’s kingdom, and given that He no longer needs holidays because He is in heaven, nothing will please Him more that to accede to your request. So ask away.
Prayer:
Lord, unlike this woman who could only approach you as a matter of privilege for crumbs, I approach you as of right for the whole bread. Send forth your word today and heal me of Satan’s destruction to the glory of your name. Amen.