For the Dogs

                My son has a very sensitive stomach. Ever since he was born, he has had trouble keeping his food down. Lately we have been trying different types of formula to see if we can find something easier on his little tummy, but it does not seem to be helping. Last night when he became fussy and cranky, I first thought he was hungry. I gave him some food but he went right back to being upset. I tried different toys and things to distract him, but he was still fussing. Finally, I took him upstairs and began to rock him to see if he was tired. He was not tired but it was soothing to him regardless. After about a half hour of rocking and praying, he looked up at me and smiled and was ready to go back to playing with his toys.

                There is a passage in Matthew 15 that has confused me ever since I was a child. In this chapter, a non-Jewish woman approaches Jesus and asks Him to heal her daughter who was demon possessed. Jesus does not even acknowledge her. She pleads with Him and He finally says that He was sent for Israel and she was not worthy to receive the benefits of His presence. She makes one more testament of her faith and Jesus says that because of her faith, her daughter will be healed. The reason Jesus was approached by a non-Jewish woman is because He is in a non-Jewish area. Right after denying this woman a miracle, Jesus feeds 4,000 non-Jewish people with a few pieces of bread and fish. It does not make since!

                For years I have tried to ignore this passage in the Bible thinking that it is just a fluke of Jesus’ behavior. Maybe Matthew got the story wrong, or maybe Jesus did not mean what He said to the woman. Then I remembered my son. Jesus did not go to that region to do a lot of healings and miracles because he was responding to the souls in the region crying for something else. They were in need of a healing of the heart and mind, not the body. We know from our history classes that many pagan cultures were in the habit of following whoever came to their town and seemed to have special abilities. They would have followed Jesus in a heartbeat had He performed many miracles among them, but they would have also followed every other god that they had. When Jesus came to this area, He only gave signs where there was great faith because without that faith, He would have been just another one of the magic gods from their heavens (like many people thought Paul was years later).

                This makes me wonder, have I been asking God to solve my physical problems and ignoring my spiritual ones? Have I been asking God to do this in other people’s lives as well? God has often answered my prayers, but perhaps He was coming to do a greater work, a work that I need more even though I do not see it.

                God, please help me to remember that you are concerned with my heart and help me to keep my heart seeking after You. Please help me to never take for granted the miracles You perform in my heart every day as you give me the grace to follow You. Please continued to help my heart seek you. Amen.