Thursday, June 23, 2005

Faith... across the border

Ever wondered just how you'd feel when someone tells you not to do something you've given heart and soul into? OR worse, ever been in such a situation and don't know what to do next? Hurts, doesn't it?

The Bible, fortunately for us, records an incident or two where, faith and hope reach beyond negative answers to receive things, that apparently were not meant to be.

There are a lot of things that the Bible records about Jesus. But none seem to be, at first sight, more cruel than this. The Son of God, who came to die for our sins, that you and I might be saved, and boy, what a shocker from the Prince of Peace??

< 21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."

23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.

26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. >>

How appalling! She first approaches Jesus. But no! Not a word! C'mon, doesn't the Bible tells us, ask and ye shall receive? After all, it was a genuine distress - her beloved daughter, demon-possessed and the only person who could help her would not respond? Isn't there a prayer, a genuine prayer, that you've been praying for, for time and time again, and yet, there hasn't been a yes, or a wait, or even a no? Nothing! No response? And there comes the Tempter, telling you you're such a sinner God, God Himself chose not to respond to your cry? TIMBER! Your faith's been cut down. There's no longer that tall, stately tree flourishing in the forest. There's only a stump, soon to die, with the rest of your faith good for... wait for it... firewood in Satan's cottage!

Look at what she did. Read again, and again, till you grasp it. She would not let go! There's something the Bible teaches us here. It is called perseverance. She disturbed the disciples next, with the obvious result - the disciples went to Jesus. How true in our lives, two thousand years after this happened. The Bible says in Romans 8:26 that the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us... That's the power of being anointed with the Holy Spirit - He knows what you need, and He prays on your behalf.

But this time, she receives a different answer - an improvement. Jesus responds, but in the negative. A part of her would have been broken. You're probably broken too. Your friends come over just to find you trying to gather up the broken pieces. Your tree is nearly falling. It's tottering. Another swing of the axe, and pop goes the weasel.

Now, here's when faith takes over. She responds in humility. She kneels before Jesus and begs Him to help her. The tamil version reads that she fell prostate before Him. Humbled. Stripped of all pride. Faith gives you the grace to do what your ego wouldn't. And yet...

26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

I really thought Jesus' answer to her was cruel - coudn't my Lord understand how that lady was feeling? But then, these are situations that bring out the faith in each one of us. Remember Abraham? The Lord asked him to sacrifice Isaac - nothing else, and remember, Abraham would have gladly parted with everything else. But still, he reached out in faith, and like with this canaanite woman, God reached in.

Think about it. You can almost hear Satan telling her... telling you "He won't look at you - He can't bear to look at you. You're pagan! You're evil! Don't you know He despises everything that is evil? So much for hope... and faith!". She was from a country despised by Jews. From a tribe loathed by God Himself. Maybe, so are you. Maybe, you strike an iron curtain with a softest heart of them all. But again, look at the Canaanite woman. Her faith was strong enough to move Jesus.

Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

There is no telling what your faith can accomplish, if only you humble yourself in His presence. Jesus isn't stubborn you know. He loves you so very much, and that makes Him push you the very edge of your faith. Remember, I Cor 10:13 says And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. Isn't that great? Forget about not having enough faith in yourself; He trusts you are able... and, shouldn't that be enough for you to grovel at His feet?

posted by Finney @ 3:00 AM 1 comments

Thursday, June 02, 2005

A still small voice

In 'Of hope and biscuits', you found yourself holding on to the last crumbs in a packet of biscuits, hiding beside brooks and being fed by ravens. Yes, you challenged kings, shut up the heavens, dueled on behalf of the Lord, brought a dead child back to life - let anyone name it, you did it. You were consumed by a passion only you and the Lord knew about. But of course! You were God's own answer - one of the Old Testament's greatest and most powerful prophets to Israel's worst king. A king, who, through his marriage, publically and officially endorsed immoral and idolatrous worship.

[Baal was the chief male deity of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, who symbolised the productive forces of nature, ie in effect, he was believed to control weather. Asherah was the wife of Baal in Canaanite mythology, whose worship involved sexual rituals - it is reasonable to assume that the worship of the 'Sacred Feminine' given in Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' stemmed from the worship of Asherah. ]

You showed them! You were burning for the Lord - yours was no candle flame; yours was a raging fire! A classic challenge, that destroyed 450 prohpets of Baal and 400 of Asherah, ultimately proving to the people through rain after 3 yrs of drought, that Baal was impotent and the Lord God was supreme! Can you picture yourself now? It's okay. Maybe you haven't challenged a king - quite possibly due to the fact that there aren't a lot of kings anymore and indeed, one of the greatest empires of the world we know today is ruled by a frail old queen. But the Lord knows what you've done. You've stood for the Lord, gone boldly where no man had hithero gone before. Psalm 66:12 You were ridden over by men. You went through fire and through water. You were consumed by a passion for the Lord. And because God listened to your prayers, you single-handedly led a nation back to the God who made them what they were.

But...

Maybe you should have seen it coming. Of course, the queen was not going to smile graciously and offer you the throne! She, predictably, was mad. Stark, raving mad. I Kings 18:4 tells us that she'd massacred every other prophet fo the Lord during Elijah's absense, except for a hundred that a devout believer named Obadiah saved(, but that's another story).

One message - one threat from her sent you running? C'mon, gimme a break. She killed the Lord's prophets, and you made the score even at Mt. Carmel. What made you so despondent?

To say I was surprised would be a HUGE understatement. Here was someone who'd accomplished things that made a king scream "Help me mommy!" (the 'mommy' in this case being the queen Jezebel) and yet...

I just could not fathom it... until I read I Kings 19:10. You see, one of the mightiest and most powerful prophets in the Old Testament felt lonely. "...for the children of Israel have... killed Your prophets with the sword and I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."

Havent you felt this way? Actually, are you feeling lonely right now? Maybe you've done things that made Satan bang his head into the wall in shame, but now, the once raging fire is suddenly nothing but a candle in the wind?

If so, cheer up. There's news for you. The Lord knows. He knows your plight. And He's here. Yes, He's here and so near you can feel His presence. Elijah walked 40 days and nights to the place where Moses got to see a glimpse of the Lord's glory. There on the mountain, where God had showed His glory to Moses in spectacular ways. But no, not that for elijah, or you and me. He wasn't in the wind. He wasn't in the earthquake. He didn'e come down in fire. No Mr. Elijah or whoever you are, He spoke - not the thundering voice of many waters we hear in the book or Revelation, but a still, small voice. To this discouraged and despondent prophet, God responded in gentleness. That still, small voice told Elijah... that he was not alone.

Do you feel lonely? Do you stand in a crowd and yet feel all alone? You may not know, but there are 7000 others whom the Lord has kept so you won't feel lonely. Read I Kings 17-19. Of course, the Lord is almighty, all powerful, but He is a gentle God. A God whose shoulders you can always weep on. He knows your deepest wounds and your darkest fears, and He responds gently. He ain't in the earthquake, the wind or the fire. He's just a still small voice... but are you listening?

posted by Finney @ 11:30 PM 1 comments