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Faith in God gives you your heart’s desire,  

By faith, you shall be victorious over the great liar,  

Faith in God fills your store, it makes you acquire,  

Believe strongly in the Lord, Let your heart burn with fire.  

You cannot take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs,  

The woman’s faith was unshaken, and she asked for the crumbs,  

Faith in the Lord opens, redeems, and unblocks, 

God’s blessings when we humble ourselves before Him as lambs. 

“Great is your faith,” Jesus said to the Canaanite woman,  

Jesus said to her, “be it unto thee even as thou wilt,” 

She received more warmth from Jesus than she would from any quilt, 

God accepts everybody who comes to Him, He chases away no human. 

The woman asked for crumbs, nothing God gives you is too small,  

The woman knew that little from God was sufficient to fulfill her goal,  

With the small that we have, we should do our best in playing our role,  

Wonderful things will come from that which we think is too small.  

Matthew 15:28 (NKJV) – “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.” 

“Behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” Matthew 15:22, R. V. The people of this district were of the old Canaanite race. They were idolaters, and were despised and hated by the Jews. To this class belonged the woman who now came to Jesus. She was a heathen, and was therefore excluded from the advantages which the Jews daily enjoyed. There were many Jews living among the Phoenicians, and the tidings of Christ’s work had penetrated to this region. Some of the people had listened to His words and had witnessed His wonderful works. This woman had heard of the prophet, who, it was reported, healed all manner of diseases. As she heard of His power, hope sprang up in her heart. Inspired by a mother’s love, she determined to present her daughter’s case to Him. It was her resolute purpose to bring her affliction to Jesus. He must heal her child. She had sought help from the heathen gods, but had obtained no relief. And at times she was tempted to think, What can this Jewish teacher do for me? But the word had come, He heals all manner of diseases, whether those who come to Him for help are rich or poor. She determined not to lose her only hope. “- The Desire of Ages, Page 399.2, Ellen G. White.  

“Christ knew this woman’s situation. He knew that she was longing to see Him, and He placed Himself in her path. By ministering to her sorrow, He could give a living representation of the lesson He designed to teach. For this He had brought His disciples into this region. He desired them to see the ignorance existing in cities and villages close to the land of Israel. The people who had been given every opportunity to understand the truth were without a knowledge of the needs of those around them. No effort was made to help souls in darkness. The partition wall which Jewish pride had erected, shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. But these barriers were to be broken down.” – The Desire of Ages, Page 400.1, Ellen G. White.  

A woman from Canaan approached Jesus to heal her. Canaan refers to a region and its inhabitants in the ancient Near East, which is prominently mentioned in the Bible. Canaan is the ancient name for a region that includes modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Jordan and Syria.  

Canaan is often described in the Bible as extending from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. The Canaanites were often in conflict with the Israelites. By Jesus’ time, the term may have been used more broadly to refer to Gentiles (non-Jews) living in the area.  

Before Jesus healed the woman He had tested her faith three times. The first time the Canaanite woman came to Jesus crying to Him to have mercy on her, Jesus did not respond (Matthew 15:22-23). When the disciples told Him to send her away, He answered, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24, KJV).  

Afterward, she came and worshipped Jesus and asked Him to help her. Jesus answered and said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs (Matthew 15:26).” She responded and said in Matthew 15:27 (KJV) – “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.”  

When Jesus heard that, He was extremely pleased. He was delighted of how the woman persisted in faith in making her request to Him. It was like when Jacob wrestled with the angel and refused to leave the angel until he blessed him.  

“Christ did not immediately reply to the woman’s request. He received this representative of a despised race as the Jews would have done. In this He designed that His disciples should be impressed with the cold and heartless manner in which the Jews would treat such a case, as evinced by His reception of the woman, and the compassionate manner in which He would have them deal with such distress, as manifested by His subsequent granting of her petition.” – The Desire of Ages, Page 400.2, Ellen G. White. 

“But although Jesus did not reply, the woman did not lose faith. As He passed on, as if not hearing her, she followed Him, continuing her supplications. Annoyed by her importunities, the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their Master treated her with indifference, and they therefore supposed that the prejudice of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to Him. But it was a pitying Saviour to whom the woman made her plea, and in answer to the request of the disciples, Jesus said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although this answer appeared to be in accordance with the prejudice of the Jews, it was an implied rebuke to the disciples, which they afterward understood as reminding them of what He had often told them, —that He came to the world to save all who would accept Him.” – The Desire of Ages, Page 400.3, Ellen G. White.  

The Canaanite woman just wanted the crumbs and not necessarily the entire loaf. This is because she strongly believed that the crumbs from the master would be more than enough for her. In other words, she believed that ‘small’ things that come from God are more than enough for her or rather for everyone. Nothing given to you by God is too small. It may seem small, but it has infinite capacity because God is an infinite God.  

Jesus was glad that the woman realized this and told her, “Great is your faith.” The woman’s great faith was shown when she requested a little portion of the savior’s power (crumbs). The weakest point of God’s power overpowers the strongest point of Satan’s power. With God’s power in you, nothing in the entire universe can defeat you.  

“The Saviour’s visit to Phoenicia and the miracle there performed had a yet wider purpose. Not alone for the afflicted woman, nor even for His disciples and those who received their labors, was the work accomplished; but also “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” John 20:31. The same agencies that barred men away from Christ eighteen hundred years ago are at work today. The spirit which built up the partition wall between Jew and Gentile is still active. Pride and prejudice have built strong walls of separation between different classes of men. Christ and His mission have been misrepresented, and multitudes feel that they are virtually shut away from the ministry of the gospel. But let them not feel that they are shut away from Christ. There are no barriers which man or Satan can erect but that faith can penetrate.” – The Desire of Ages, Page 403.1, Ellen G. White.  

“In faith the woman of Phoenicia flung herself against the barriers that had been piled up between Jew and Gentile. Against discouragement, regardless of appearances that might have led her to doubt, she trusted the Saviour’s love. It is thus that Christ desires us to trust in Him. The blessings of salvation are for every soul. Nothing but his own choice can prevent any man from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel.” – The Desire of Ages, Page 403.2, Ellen G. White.  

Psalm 37:4 (KJV) – “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”  

It is an act of faith to delight yourself in God. The woman was not quick to leave Jesus despite the harsh sounding words from Christ because she delighted in Him. When you find Godly activities to be burdensome, you will easily lose interest in them. Some of us treat Godly activities like how many employees treat the jobs that they hate. Such employees hate their jobs, but they must do them because they want to make money from them.  

Sometimes we worship God and do acts of service to Him because we want to get blessings from Him. However, we do not delight in that. Few Christians look forward to praying the same way they look forward to watching a movie or going for a date.  

We often feel lazy to pray when we wake up and before we sleep but since we have set it as a routine, we force ourselves to do it. Most times, we do not pray because we want to, we pray because we have to. That is why some of us when we get tested by small trials, we are quick to leave the church and to leave God.  

One whose passion is playing video games, will keep on playing them no matter the challenges he encounters in the game. In fact, the more challenges he encounters, the more passionate he is in playing that game. One who loves hiking hills and mountains will strive to reach the highest peak and sometimes go round the entire crater despite how challenging it may seem. One day we went for a hike to Mount Longonot with the youth in our church. While we were hiking, it started raining but we did not go back because of the rain. We continued hiking because we were delighted to do that activity.  

While I was at Laiser Hill Academy, I would see students going to play rugby in the field or go to the swimming pool to swim while it rained heavily because they delighted in those activities. Some of us, when we look out of the window on Sabbath and see it raining, we find an excuse not to go to church.  

Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) – “¹³ If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: ¹⁴ Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” 

When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we shall overlook the challenges and keep our focus on God. We shall be able to rejoice and sing hymns when we are persecuted. When we delight in God, we shall overcome all obstacles and conquer all that needs to be conquered. Like the Canaanite woman, when we delight in God, He shall give us our heart’s desire.  

GOD BLESS YOU! 

Prayer  

Our heavenly Father and King, thank You for the lessons that You have taught me on faith from Your Word. I appreciate every little thing that you have given me. I ask you to use whatever you have given me to the best of your glory. Lord, help me to delight in You always and as You have promised, give me the desires of my heart. In Jesus name, Amen.  

Activity 

1. Take time to reflect and meditate on Psalm 37:4. Write it down and ask God what it means.  

2. Take time to reflect and meditate on Isaiah 58:13-14. Write it down and ask God what it means. 

3. Write down all the things that you desire and try to find out if they are in accordance with God’s will/Word. Do this prayerfully.

Author: Mark Alex   

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