GFT #6 Obstacles and Faith

“Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Mt 15:28

The size of faith is manifest by the size of the obstacles to that faith. David’s faith in God was great because Goliath was big…it would have been a different story if Goliath had been a 100 lb midget. In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman’s faith crashes through a sequence of obstacles resulting in a compliment that Jesus gave to only one other person. The compliment was “you have great faith!”

The Canaanite woman had faith in Jesus that He could heal her daughter. The Bible says she came “crying out” and it says “Jesus did not answer a word.” Have your prayers and pleadings to God met silence? Did that end the pursuit of God’s intervention? Not for this lady.

As if Jesus silence was not a sufficient obstacle to send her away, the disciples urge Jesus to send her away because “she keeps crying out after us.” The second obstacle to her faith was when those close to Jesus sought to send her away without the miracle she needed. Has someone close to Jesus discouraged you from faith for some outrageous miracle?

Jesus finally broke the silence and gave the lady His mission statement and it didn’t include Canaanites. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Undaunted by her lack of qualification for Jesus mission, she knelt before Jesus and once again cried out “Lord, help me!”

The fourth obstacle is a word from Jesus that could have been perceived as insulting. Jesus says “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” Would her faith evaporate with this statement? No…in great faith, she presses in and says “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their Master’s table.”

After the fourth obstacle, her great faith moves Jesus to work a miracle. Great faith crashes through monumental obstacles.