Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s FaithMark 7: 24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 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. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 “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.” 28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Luke 7 (NIV)
The Faith of the Centurion
Luke 7: 7 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Often I imagine myself in a situation where I am being watched by a cloud of witnesses and Angels and the Lord all watching me and during a trial or tribulation I say or do something that would please them for my faith. Often I find myself falling short of this reality and either being too distracted, too tired, too frustrated or the like, wondering just how many times that I have missed these opportunities of faith?
I realize that when I rely on myself in the course of my day, then I am liking setting myself up to fail. However, when I find myself in the word, reading Scripture daily and praying regularly, more often than not, the Holy Spirit guides more toward these opportunities. I think the big question here is am I allowing myself the time for the Spirit to guide me? Am I available? Am I trusting God for His leading?
When I read the Old and New testament I am continually amazed how God uses ordinary men, women and even children to do extraordinary things through His will. That blows me away that God decides to use us to build His Kingdom. To be a part of that and to be available for that is an amazing thing. When I mentor, when I coach and when God puts me in leadership, I am truly humbled that He gives me the ability to do this, but even more so to be even more blessed by what I get back in return.
When we serve we should expect:
- To be blessed
- To be needed
- To be used for God's glory
- To be his light (more Christ-like)
When we serve we should not expect:
- To be exhausted
- To have a bad attitude
- To not have the time (We are called to be stewards of His time, talent and treasure)
As a men's ministry leader I find myself walking with various men of all ages ranging from my son to high school all the way up to men that are in the 60's and 70's. When I find myself walking with men and being asked by them to mentor them I often ask them to mentor me. Sometimes you will find that when you mentor, the mentee is regularly mentoring you even more so by their walk and truth and humility toward Scripture - it is a beautiful thing. The one thing that I like to challenge these men with is that if they want me to walk with them then they have to be in the Word regularly and have to be in prayer as well. The reason that I request this is because if they aren't listening to God's word then there is nothing possibly in my life that would or could bring them to the truth. They have to be rooted in the word!
When you walk in God's truth and His light you will often find yourself living a life of faith!
Blessings,Dante