I hate it when my children are sick. Hate it. I want so desperately to make them feel better, to take away their suffering. It is one of the most helpless feelings, that feeling a mother experiences is when her child is really ill. Moms, though, have the ability to turn those feelings of helplessness and fear into a force to be reckoned with when we find anything that will help our babies. A mother on a mission to help her child is tireless and relentless.
In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, we find a mom all too familiar with that feeling of helplessness, that hopelessness of being unable to relieve her child’s pain. This mom had a daughter who was not just sick, she was suffering, tormented. This was no ordinary illness; it was the work of an evil spirit.
We don’t often encounter this kind of thing in our Western 21st Century lives, but this mom was truly helpless to alleviate her daughter’s sufferings. No amount of medical intervention could help. Day after day, she lived in agony as she watched the torment of her daughter. That is, until she heard a rumor that someone who may have the ability to help – a healer – might be in the area.
Hope of a Healer
This healer, the Jewish rabbi Jesus, had been in Gennesaret, and his latest encounter with the teachers of the law and Pharisees had made the already contentious atmosphere heated and charged. So, to let things cool down a bit, He withdrew from the area to a region most notably known for being enemies of God’s chosen people. He wanted to keep a low profile, to have some time to rest and privately teach His disciples. But, news of His arrival spread all the same, reaching our desperate mother.
Now as a non-Jew, and a woman, she had no business approaching a Jewish rabbi. Not in that day and age. But, mamas will do whatever it takes for their children, even breaking societal norms, risking everything to get them the help they need. So, she goes, immediately. She throws herself at Jesus’s feet, loudly beseeching Him to help her daughter, calling out to Him as Lord and Son of David. This Gentile woman calls on the Jewish Messiah to help her, to heal her daughter.
And… Silence
Jesus is silent.
When Jesus doesn’t answer her, she persists in crying out. She keeps on yelling and making a scene for Jesus the Messiah to heal her daughter, so much so that the disciples start nudging Jesus to send her away. This scene she was making was too much, definitely not helping to keep His presence quiet.
Then, He turns to her, replying that He had come to the Israelites; for God, as we know, is faithful to His word. He had promised the Messiah to deliver His chosen people first, and then redemption for the world.
“Lord, help me!”
Undeterred, she asks again, “Lord, help me!” Because a mother on a mission to save her child is fierce and bold. She refuses to give up the only hope she has for her daughter.
Jesus looks at her, this desperate, pleading mother, and says that the children should eat all they want first, that it wasn’t right to take the food, the bread for the children and give it to the little, pet dogs. Again, Jesus reiterates to her that the good news was to be given to the Jews first.
The crumbs are enough
Our desperate mother understands His meaning, and yet boldly goes on, “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28 NIV)
She watches.
She waits.
She is content to just have the crumbs.
Because she knows the crumbs are enough.
Jesus smiles. Her faith, her humility, and her wit please Him. He commends her faith, and He heals her daughter. He was delighted with this mother’s persistence, her faith, and her willingness to trust the Messiah’s goodness.
When we pray
We often assume when we pray that God will give us what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. We assume God will alleviate our pain if we only ask. But, God is not a genie in a lamp, there to grant us our wishes. To follow Him is to walk together on a journey, a journey that so often includes the unexpected.
God’s plan for our lives rarely lines up with the plans we make for ourselves. And sometimes parts of that plan include unexpected detours, painful bumps in the road, and sharp turns.
Sometimes it requires us to be in a position of humility.
Sometimes the answer to our prayers is silence.
Sometimes the answer is no.
Content to trust
In the things that matter most…
In the worries that keep us up at night…
With the things that cause us the deepest pain and require the most faith, will we be content to trust the goodness and the faithfulness of God, whatever His answer may be?
Even when it isn’t what we expect?
Will we be content with the crumbs?
© 2018 Sara R Conley. All rights reserved.