By Dr Edward Tamale-Sali
Matthew 15:23-28: “But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she cries out after us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
“Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’
“But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’
“And she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’
“Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” To her surprise, Jesus said “not a word” to her.
Have you ever visited a doctor and talked, but they do not communicate to you?
As a medical doctor, I cannot recall a time when a patient comes to my clinic, and I fail to talk to or smile at them.
But in this scripture, Jesus did not say anything to the woman.
This amazing story of the Canaanite woman is a great lesson to all believers.
We need to apply it to our daily adversities; financial, bereavement, job seeking, loneliness, separation from a spouse, children’s disobedience or health issues.
In this story, we see how the Holy Spirit can reveal hidden treasures of God.
Before coming to Jesus, this woman had confidence that He would meet her needs. She must have heard about Him or attended His meetings and seen the miracles He performed.
She may even have attended the wedding in Cana, where He turned water into wine. She came with this confidence.
She did not quit
In her mind, she thought it would be a very quick fix, but it was not.
She told Jesus: “Son of David help me, my daughter is possessed by a demon, it is tormenting her” (Matthew 15:22).
She must have been kneeling, crying and making loud voices.
But the disturbance she caused prompted the disciples to evacuate her, probably by force to bring peace.
In verse 24, Jesus speaks to the disciples: “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
This was another ‘negative’ statement from Jesus, but she did not quit or make accusations and complaints against Him.
Regardless, she came nearer and started worshipping Jesus repeatedly and responded: “Lord help me.”
Jesus responded: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to little dogs.” This was the third ‘negative’ reaction thrown at her.
Breakthrough
She replied: “Yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
In other words, she was ready to ‘eat crumbs’ and still get satisfied.
Jesus honoured her faith instantly and her daughter was healed of insanity. Hallelujah!
Lessons
1- Worship Jesus all the time, irrespective of your situation or condition.
2-Worship, coupled with persistence will cause a spiritual reaction (a miracle will come) and develop faith; which pleases God.
3-Do not give up, irrespective of hindrances along your path. Challenges will come, but God will use them to be your stepping stone to go to a higher level.
Remember the Jericho wall which not because of missiles, bombs or guns, but because of praise and worship (Joshua 6: 1-27).
The children of Israel used the debris/ wall slabs to enter their vehicles into the city hall.
Similarly, God will use your enemy or any hindrance to step over and go to your next level of faith.
Personal testimony
In 2000, I was invited to present a research paper in Washington, DC, USA. My topic was: “How many caesarean sections can a woman have?”
The conventional teaching was that a woman is limited to three abdominal deliveries, irrespective of whether she has living children or not.
Then tubal ligation/ sterilisation should be done for fear of uterine rupture if she should become pregnant subsequently.
The conclusion in my study was that so long as prolonged labour is avoided and elective surgery is performed, there will not be any uterine rupture.
So, women can have as many cesarean sections as they wished.
I have done the eighth caesarean section on an American white patient, and all went well.
She had had seven caesarian sections before, and after re-marrying, she got pregnant and we successfully operated her at birth. But my invitation to the Congress faced three problems:
1- Hospital management refused to sanction my ticket because they considered this a private matter.
2- I could not raise a minimum of $5,000 to travel.
A breakthrough
I started to worship and pray with my wife and children. Within that week, a very important person (member of the royal family of that country) called me for consultation.
As we were talking, I mentioned my challenges of being unable to go to Washington DC to present my paper.
Surprisingly, the following day she paid for my ticket and everything needed. This was a big miracle and breakthrough, and it increased my faith many folds.
Prayer point
Lord teach me to worship you and lean upon you, regardless of the circumstances.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subscribe to our website and be the first to receive great Christian news, health information, pastoral guidance, environment, farming and many others. Also, Like and follow us on Facebook at Good News UG.
