Desperate Faith
Have you ever been desperate for something? Direction. An answer. Love. Peace.
When I was in high school I dated a girl for about a year and half. One day, seemingly out of the blue, she broke up with me, but didn’t give me a reason. I remember being heartbroken the way only a 17 year old boy can be, but not having a reason made the pain worse. The more time passed, and I didn’t receive an answer, the more desperate I became until I HAD to find out what had happened! To make a long story short, I did everything I knew to do. I talked with her family, I talked with our youth pastor, and finally after months I said to her (my words now), “This is ridiculous, I’ve got to know what happened.”
Have you ever been desperate for God to do something in your life or situation? Direction. An answer. Love. Peace
The mom in Matthew 16 was this desperate. Wouldn’t you be if your child was demon possessed? So she does the only thing she can do. She runs to Jesus. Jesus responds that he was “sent to help God’s lost sheep–the people of Israel.”
I wonder if she was expecting that response. Sometimes in life the solution to our problem doesn’t come as easily as we thought it was going to. Can you relate to that? I think that’s what God wants. He is forming us to run a marathon, not a sprint. In a sprint you only need to last seconds. In a marathon you need to last hours.
The mom in our story comes to Jesus and worships again. But Jesus puts her off again saying, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” Wow, another unexpected response.
It’s at this point in the story that you and I give up. We feel rejected, mad, upset, offended…fill in the blank. But this is where desperate faith kicks in for this mom. When you have nothing else–when Jesus is truly your only answer–desperate faith says push in again. Jesus will come through!
The mom replies, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their master’s table.” Keep in mind she is the dog in this story! What humility! What desperation! What honesty! Jesus, all I need is a crumb. A crumb from you will satisfy me.
What faith…what persistence. It’s not until we become truly desperate to see God work in our lives or our loved ones that he will. We need to learn the discipline of pressing in to God, holding on to God, not letting go of God.
Desperate faith!
Tags: desperation, Faith
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