No matter what!

Matthew 15:21-28

21 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. 22 They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit." 23 Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy." 24 Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel." 25 Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Lord, help me." 26 He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs." 27 She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table." 28 Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

Food for thought

Cherie Hills writes: There are three simple words you should know that will take you places in your faith that you never thought possible. They aren’t complicated and don’t require any “in depth” interpretation. Although frequently manipulated by the circumstances surrounding them, they are precise, pertinent, and powerful when it comes to growing your faith. Are you ready? Here they are: “No matter what.”

The woman in the gospel was a "No matter what" kind of woman. Given her position as a foreigner and as a woman, it took phenomenal courage on her part to take on the all-Jewish and all-male company of Jesus and his disciples. She must have known the three words: No matter what. Even when Jesus ignored her, the woman did not give up. Even when Jesus spoke of her: "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel," she did not lose her cool but kept herself faithful to the three words.

Most people at this point would give up and accept defeat. But not our Canaanite sister. Rather she intensifies her efforts and embarks on a one-woman demonstration to the point that the disciples had to ask Jesus to do something about it: "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy." Her courage and her refusal to take no for an answer finally paid off.

Now, hear the truth, “Faith doesn’t make things easy . . . but it makes all things possible.” And this is where our three simple words will take our faith further than we ever imagined. It’s when we make the decision to trust God, regardless of the overwhelming evidence within our circumstances that tell us "He’s abandoned you," that we’ll find ourselves winning.

If you’re not exactly sure how those three simple words can transform your faith, let me spell it out for you: When you’re facing financial stress that brings you face to face with foreclosure and the loss of all your hopes and dreams . . . trust God—“No matter what.” When your spouse is an addict, won’t get help, and continues to allow the devil to unleash chaos, pain and suffering in your home . . . trust God—“No matter what.” When your child is battling a terminal illness and the end is eminent . . . trust God—“No matter what.” When you get financially broke and can't make the ends meet, trust the providence of God, "No matter what."

Finally, it was Jesus who gave in: "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" and the woman got what she wanted. The message of this single woman outsider to every one of us today is: Be not afraid. Be not afraid to challenge prejudice and falsity even in high places, even in religious high places. The least among us can be a vehicle that God can use to bring justice and healing to all of God’s disadvantaged daughters and sons all over the world.

Too often, in our walk of faith, we are asked to simply “endure.” To endure means “to carry through no matter what; to suffer patiently no matter what.” It means “holding on,” no matter what. Jesus assured us, “But he who, no matter what, endures to the end will be saved ” (Matthew 24: 13).