“In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.”

Mark 7:25-30 NIV

I’ve often read this story and thought Jesus’ words a bit strange and maybe inconsiderate, and then simply moved further down the verses and continued with my bible reading. But this time round, I guess my outlook was,  “Lord, show me what’s going on here..”

This time round when I was reading the below, it dawned on me that there’s a good possibility, that had Jesus said those same words to us, we’d have become offended.

Prrft – thanks Jesus, I’ve come to you begging for my daughter and you’re drawing up a comparison with dogs. Today’s mindset would say, “jog on! I’m worth more than this”. Or the very least we’d have thought, I haven’t got time for this attitude, I’ll find another person dealing in this line of business.

But instead, we see that she is willing to contend, to fight for her daughter’s case. She clearly came with desperation but also with a resolute heart that said “whatever it takes”; that resolute attitude, wasn’t going to let anyone, not even Jesus, take away the Hope she had.

She loved her daughter and therefore was willing to beg (go all out). She already had faith and trust that Jesus was able (she’d heard all the stories), now she was putting her hope on the table in front of everyone - yeah, we might be dogs, but even we get to eat.. And then there’s the clear point, that she refrained from allowing any seed of bitterness or hardness to settle in her spirit.

Wow! Radical, and powerful

Remember:

- Extravagant Love,

- Audacious Faith,

- Insurmountable Hope. (Romans 5:5 “Hope maketh not ashamed…”)